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bar line

American  

noun

Music.
  1. bar.


bar line British  

noun

  1. music the vertical line marking the boundary between one bar and the next

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bar line

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

As in “Mass,” Bernstein changes idioms by the minute and rhythms, to Broadway’s dismay, by the bar line.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 29, 2021

After I had made my way through fifteen minutes worth of buzzy salad bar line, I got to the order-taker and half-heartedly mumbled "I'll have the uh, beesduntklill.." while gesturing limply at the menu board.

From The Verge May 1, 2015

There are tremendous suspensions over the bar line, places where Barber creates a great tension by changing harmonies, staggered in such a way that the dissonances form and then resolve.

From New York Times Mar. 5, 2010

When this happens, the bar line will still appear at the end of the completed measure.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

A double bar line, either heavy or light, is used to mark the ends of larger sections of music, including the very end of a piece, which is marked by a heavy double bar.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

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