debar Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb bar temporarily; from school, office, etc.
    suspend.
  2. verb prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening
    stave off; avert; avoid; deflect; obviate; head off; forefend; fend off; ward off; forfend.
    • Let's avoid a confrontation
    • head off a confrontation
    • avert a strike
  3. verb prevent from entering; keep out
    bar; exclude.
    • He was barred from membership in the club

WordNet

De*bar" transitive verb
Etymology
Pref. de- + bar.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Debarred ; present participle & verbal noun Debarring
Definitions
  1. To cut off from entrance, as if by a bar or barrier; to preclude; to hinder from approach, entry, or enjoyment; to shut out or exclude; to deny or refuse; -- with from, and sometimes with of.
    Yet not so strictly hath our Lord imposed Labor, as to debar us when we need Refreshment. Milton.
    Their wages were so low as to debar them, not only from the comforts but from the common decencies of civilized life. Buckle.

Webster 1913