Indistinguishable in speech, the words hurtle and hurdle can be a confusing pair.
Hurtle is a verb with two meanings: "to move rapidly or forcefully," as in "The stone was hurtling through the air," and "to hurl or fling," as in "I hurtled the stone into the air." Note that the first use is intransitive: the stone isn't hurtling anything; it itself is simply hurtling. The second use is transitive: something was hurtled—in this case, a stone.
Hurdle is both a noun and a verb. As a noun, its most common meanings have to do with barriers: the ones that runners leap over, and the metaphorical extension of these, the figurative barriers and obstacles we try to similarly overcome. The verb hurdle has two meanings, and they are directly related to these. It can mean "to leap over especially while running," as in "She hurdled the fence," and it can mean "to overcome or surmount," as in "They've had to hurdle significant financial obstacles." The verb hurdle is always transitive; that is, there's always a thing being hurdled, whether it be a physical obstacle or a metaphorical one.
Noun
He won a medal in the high hurdles.
The company faces severe financial hurdles this year. Verb
The horse hurdled the fence.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The decision likely means Republican legislators will face fewer hurdles when attempting to pass laws that change or restrict the state’s mail-in, absentee, and ballot collection laws.—Jenna Barackman, Kansas City Star, 3 June 2024 What the American 400-meter hurdles champion will finally receive is a great day under the Eiffel Tower where she'll be presented with the gold medal she was denied 12 years ago at the London Olympics.—CBS News, 30 May 2024
Verb
So, those everywhere who loved William Theodore Walton III should raise their glasses, to an incredible man who somehow hurdled setbacks to lead life on his own terms.—Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 May 2024 Archbishop Mitty’s hurdling trio of Laniah Simpson, Taylor Oden and Tiana Osuna finished 1-2-3 in the CCS girls 100 meter hurdles.—Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 24 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for hurdle
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hurdle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Middle English hurdel, from Old English hyrdel; akin to Old High German hurt hurdle, Latin cratis wickerwork, hurdle
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
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