Did you know?
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
Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2025
Dashcam video shows the gray sedan hurtling through the intersection before colliding with another Tesla.
—Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025
The more objects hurtling around the planet, the higher the risk of collisions that could pollute near-Earth space with thousands of dangerous fragments.
—Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 24 Nov. 2025
Overall, any positive vibes left in the industry appear to be hurtling toward rock bottom.
—Emily Nicolle, Fortune, 23 Nov. 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 11 Dec. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share