Word.ws English Dictionary

barring

UK/ˈbɑːɹɪŋ(ɡ)/

barring noun: bars; an arrangement or pattern of stripes or bars. Also the present participle and gerund of bar.

Noun

barring (countable and uncountable, plural barrings)

  1. (collective) Bars; an arrangement or pattern of stripes or bars.
  2. The act of fitting or closing something with bars.
  3. The exclusion of someone; blackballing.
  4. Timber used for supporting the roof or sides of shafts.
  5. The sewing of a decorative bar or tack upon a fabric or leather.
    Synonyms:
    tacking

Preposition

barring

  1. Unless (something) happens; excepting; in the absence of.
    • Barring any further red tape, we will finally be able to open the restaurant.
    • Barring any sudden storms, the plane should arrive on time.

Also used as

barring is also the present participle and gerund of bar.

barring is also the present participle and gerund of barr.

barring meaning in Arabic

barring in Arabic

excepting
إِلَا ʔilā

Examples of barring in a sentence

  • It stretched from one side of the tunnel to the other, floor to ceiling, barring further passage.
  • Such temperatures are impossible today barring a massive meteor strike or gigantic underwater volcano eruption.
  • I've not seen any genuine Harry Potter merchandise barring the journals and card games.

All 13 example sentences with barring

Synonyms of barring

Forms of barring

pluralbarrings

Words formed from barring

Phrases with barring

Questions about barring

What does barring mean?
Barring means bars; an arrangement or pattern of stripes or bars.
What is barring in Arabic?
Barring in Arabic is إِلَا (ʔilā). See Barring meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is barring?
Barring can be a noun or a preposition.
How do you pronounce barring?
Barring is pronounced /ˈbɑːɹɪŋ(ɡ)/ (UK).
What is the plural of barring?
The plural of barring is barrings.

Words near barring in the dictionary

  1. Barrilleauxes
  2. barrin'
  3. Barrineau
  4. Barrineaus
  5. barriness
  6. barring
  7. barring down
  8. barring engine
  9. barring motor
  10. barring off
  11. barring out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: barring (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-barring.wav.

Cite this entry: “barring.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/barring. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.