Skip to main content

Bar vs Barrier vs Barricade

Bar, barrier, barricade mean something which hinders or obstructs.

Both bar and barrier apply to something that prevents free communication or passage; more specifically, bar frequently suggests a restriction of ingress or egress, while barrier suggests an obstacle to advance, progress, or attack; bar also may suggest a simple structure and barrier a more extensive or elaborate one.

Barricade is chiefly used in the sense of an obstruction thrown across a street or way to check a hostile advance.