behind bars


In prison, as in All murderers should be put behind bars for life. The bars here refer to the iron rods used to confine prisoners. [c. 1900]

Words Nearby behind bars

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use behind bars in a sentence

  • It made you feel ridiculously self-conscious, standing behind bars like this and shouting into emptiness.

    Young People's Pride | Stephen Vincent Benet
  • Her view of the burgess English imaged a mighty monster behind bars, to whom we offer anything but our hand.

  • In all the parlour there was but one object for which he had a seemly respect—the vast painting of a recumbent lion behind bars.

    The Wrong Twin | Harry Leon Wilson
  • To-morrow morning I shall breakfast at your expense, unless you shall decide that I must breakfast behind bars.

    The Gay Cockade | Temple Bailey
  • To place him behind bars would mean the end of his immediate activities.