hurdle

[hur-dl] /ˈhɜr dl/
noun
1.
a portable barrier over which contestants must leap in certain running races, usually a wooden frame with a hinged inner frame that swings down under impact to prevent injury to a runner who does not clear it.
2.
hurdles, (used with a singular verb) a race in which contestants must leap over a number of such barriers placed at specific intervals around the track.
Compare high hurdles, low hurdles.
3.
any of various vertical barriers, as a hedge, low wall, or section of fence, over which horses must jump in certain types of turf races, as a steeplechase, but especially an artificial barrier.
4.
a difficult problem to be overcome; obstacle.
5.
Chiefly British. a movable rectangular frame of interlaced twigs, crossed bars, or the like, as for a temporary fence.
6.
a frame or sled on which criminals, especially traitors, were formerly drawn to the place of execution.
verb (used with object), hurdled, hurdling.
7.
to leap over (a hurdle, barrier, fence, etc.), as in a race.
8.
to master (a difficulty, problem, etc.); overcome.
9.
to construct with hurdles; enclose with hurdles.
verb (used without object), hurdled, hurdling.
10.
to leap over a hurdle or other barrier.
Origin
before 900; Middle English hirdel, hurdel (noun), Old English hyrdel, equivalent to hyrd- + -el noun suffix; compare German Hürde hurdle; akin to Latin crātis hurdle, wickerwork, Greek kýrtos basket, cage, Sanskrit kṛt spin
Related forms
hurdler, noun
unhurdled, adjective
Can be confused
hurdle, hurl, hurtle.
Examples from the web for hurdle
  • For many students and their families, scraping together the money to pay for college is a big enough hurdle on its own.
  • True, interest rates have been falling, so perhaps hurdle rates should be adjusted.
  • The biggest hurdle facing solar power is cost-effectiveness.
  • But stimulating their sparse natural production remains a hurdle in developing an antiviral therapy.
  • Those that don't make it over that hurdle never make it to kitchen trials.
  • One major hurdle to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles is the time needed to recharge them.
  • Finding short-term housing in each city was perhaps the biggest hurdle.
  • The second hurdle for a would-be lawyer is the bar exam itself.
  • It's this cost that has traditionally been the hurdle over which video calling has stumbled.
  • This, however, would require overcoming the highest hurdle of all: the political and economic consensus for low inflation.
British Dictionary definitions for hurdle

hurdle

/ˈhɜːdəl/
noun
1.
  1. (athletics) one of a number of light barriers over which runners leap in certain events
  2. a low barrier used in certain horse races
2.
an obstacle to be overcome
3.
a light framework of interlaced osiers, wattle, etc, used as a temporary fence
4.
(Brit) a sledge on which criminals were dragged to their executions
verb
5.
to jump (a hurdle, etc), as in racing
6.
(transitive) to surround with hurdles
7.
(transitive) to overcome
Derived Forms
hurdler, noun
Word Origin
Old English hyrdel; related to Gothic haurds door, Old Norse hurth door, Old High German hurd, Latin crātis, Greek kurtos basket
Word Origin and History for hurdle
n.

Old English hyrdel "frame of intertwined twigs used as a temporary barrier," diminutive of hyrd "door," from Proto-Germanic *hurdiz "wickerwork frame, hurdle" (cf. Old Saxon hurth "plaiting, netting," Dutch horde "wickerwork," German Hürde "hurdle, fold, pen;" Old Norse hurð, Gothic haurds "door"), from PIE *krtis (cf. Latin cratis "hurdle, wickerwork," Greek kartalos "a kind of basket," kyrtos "fishing creel"), from root *kert- "to weave, twist together" (cf. Sanskrit krt "to spin"). Sense of "barrier to jump in a race" is by 1822; figurative sense of "obstacle" is 1924.

v.

1590s, "to build like a hurdle," from hurdle (n.). Sense of "to jump over" dates from 1880 (implied in hurdling). Related: Hurdled; hurdling. Hurdles as a type of race (originally horse race) with hurdles as obstacles is attested by 1836 (hurdle-race is from 1822).