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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.
Examples of hurtle in a Sentence
Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025
Voter anger over the cost of living is hurtling forward into next year’s midterm elections, when pivotal contests will be decided by communities that are home to fast-rising electric bills or fights over who’s footing the bill to power Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2025
Finally, with the boom of a cannon and the roar of the crowd, each team member and coach rubs Howard’s Rock for luck before hurtling down the hill toward the home sideline.
—Elizabeth Hutchison Hicklin, Southern Living, 8 Nov. 2025
Some are passing the cost on to eaters, tacking a few extra dollars onto the price of dishes when ordered for delivery—but as the economy hurtles toward a possible recession, $31 for spaghetti in a cardboard box starts to seem like a bad idea too.
—Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hurtle
Cite this Entry
“Hurtle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurtle. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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