Barrier

bar′i-ėr, n. a defence against attack: a limit or boundary: a fence, railing, gate where customs are collected: the lists in a tournament: any obstacle that keeps apart: ( pl. ) a martial exercise in 15th and 16th centuries.— v.t. to shut by means of a barrier.— n. Bar′rier-reef , a coral-reef surrounding an island or fringing a coast with a navigable channel inside.— Barrier Act , an act pa ed by the General A embly of the Church of Scotland in 1697 as a security against innovations, decreeing that changes in the law of the Church, even when approved by the A embly, shall not become law till approved also by a majority of presbyteries. [O. Fr. barrière —Low L. barraria — barra , bar.]