hurdle

noun hur·dle \ ˈhər-dᵊl \

Updated on: 7 May 2018

1 a : a portable panel usually of wattled withes and stakes used especially for enclosing land or livestock

b : a frame or sled formerly used in England for dragging traitors to execution

2 a : an artificial barrier over which racers must leap

knocked over a hurdle

b hurdles plural, track and field : any of various events in which racers must jump over a series of hurdles

won a medal in the high hurdles

The hurdles is his best event.

3 : barrier, obstacle

a company that faces severe financial hurdles

overcame many hurdles on her way to earning her degree

See hurdle defined for English-language learners

See hurdle defined for kids

Examples of hurdle in a Sentence

He won a medal in the high hurdles.
The company faces severe financial hurdles this year.

Recent Examples of hurdle from the Web

The event winner, Queshan Watson-Riggins, leaped 23-1¼. Adams is ranked No. 1 in Florida in the 110-meter high hurdles.

— buddy collings, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Timber Creek junior is off to the races after clinching state tennis title \ State track and field report," 4 May 2018
Vasile was second in both the 55 hurdles and 300 at All-States and placed seventh in the Nationals Emerging Elite 400-meter dash.

— BostonGlobe.com, "2017-18 Girls' Indoor Track All-Scholastics," 4 May 2018
Abel Christiansen, Brookfield East: The Spartans senior, already ranked second in the state in Division 1, improved on his season best in the 300 hurdles, dropping from 39.96 to 39.52 at the Greater Metro relays Wednesday.

— mark stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Milwaukee-area boys track and field honor roll, athletes of the week," 3 May 2018
Olivia Island emerged as the x-factor with her efforts in the 55 hurdles and the pole vault.

— kyle stackpole, Howard County Times, "Howard boys track and field seeking county triple crown at outdoor league championships," 3 May 2018
Spring Boy events Junior Treyvon Mays placed third (14.34) in the 110-meter hurdles, Daniel Harrold fifth (14.66) and junior Clifton Mcdowell placed 14th (6-00.00) in the high jump.

— alvaro montaño, Houston Chronicle, "Spring ISD wins two events, athletes compete at regional meet," 2 May 2018
Miscellaneous: Finished fifth in the 300 hurdles and eighth in the 100 meters at the outdoor track State Open.

— lori riley, courant.com, "Boys Indoor Track: Athlete Of The Year, Leon Campbell, Hartford Public," 1 May 2018
Cunningham ran the 100 in 11.44 seconds, then came back 20 minutes later to lead the field in the hurdles qualifying in a time of 13.36.

— joe juliano, Philly.com, "Justin Gatlin excited to be back at Penn for 'USA vs. The World'," 27 Apr. 2018
Yet plans to end deforestation, a major threat to the long-term sustainability of the cocoa industry, face major hurdles.

— tim cocks and ange aboa, The Christian Science Monitor, "Ivory Coast, chocolate giants team up to make cocoa production more sustainable," 19 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hurdle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Hurdle vs. Hurtle

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.