barre

¹ American  

[bahr] / bɑr /

Or bar

noun

Ballet.

1. a handrail placed at hip height, used by a dancer to maintain balance during practice.

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barré ² American  

[bah-rey] / bɑˈreɪ /

noun

1. Textiles. a pattern of stripes or bands of color extending across the warp in woven and knitted fabrics.

2. Textiles. a streak in the filling direction when one or more picks are of a color different from that of adjacent picks.

3. Music. a technique of playing a chord on a stringed instrument by laying a finger across the strings at a particular fret, raising their pitch.

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barré ¹ British  

/ ˈbæreɪ /

noun

1. the act of laying the index finger over some or all of the strings of a guitar, lute, or similar instrument, so that the pitch of each stopped string is simultaneously raised Compare capo 1

2. the playing of chords in this manner

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verb

1. to execute (chords) in this manner

adverb

1. by using the barré

barre ² British  

/ bar /

noun

1. a rail at hip height used for ballet practice and leg exercises

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Etymology

Origin of barre¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Origin of barré²

< French: literally, barred, past participle of barrer, derivative of barre bar ¹

Example Sentences

I try not to schedule too much, but I could take a barre class or Pilates.

From The Wall Street Journal

I go to barre classes and pop into online strength classes.

From The Wall Street Journal

Her classes were three hours long; you would do an hour at the barre, an hour on pointe and an hour on the floor.

From Los Angeles Times

Sheena Gough is 89 years old but she can easily lift her leg on to a ballet barre to demonstrate elegant dance moves to her class.

From BBC

Increased interest has pushed Westside Ballet to add 12 more adult dance classes to its schedule, including ballet, pointe instruction, jazz, ballroom, floor barre and theater jazz.

From Los Angeles Times