barrier
Americannoun
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barriers
plural
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anything built or serving to bar passage, as a railing, fence, or the like.
People may pass through the barrier only when their train is announced.
- Synonyms:
- impediment, hindrance, obstruction, wall, palisade
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any natural bar or obstacle.
a mountain barrier.
- Synonyms:
- impediment, hindrance, obstruction
-
anything that restrains or obstructs progress, access, etc..
a trade barrier.
- Synonyms:
- impediment, hindrance, obstruction
-
a limit or boundary of any kind.
the barriers of caste.
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Physical Geography. an Antarctic ice shelf or ice front.
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History/Historical. barriers, the palisade or railing surrounding the ground where tourneys and jousts were carried on.
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Archaic. a fortress or stockade.
noun
-
anything serving to obstruct passage or to maintain separation, such as a fence or gate
-
anything that prevents or obstructs passage, access, or progress
a barrier of distrust
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anything that separates or hinders union
a language barrier
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an exposed offshore sand bar separated from the shore by a lagoon
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( as modifier )
a barrier beach
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(sometimes capital) that part of the Antarctic icecap extending over the sea
Synonym Usage
See bar 1.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of barrier
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Middle French barriere ( barre bar 1 + -iere, from Latin -āria -ary ); replacing Middle English barrere, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin barrera
Explanation
Barriers are walls, either physical or metaphorical. They can block movement — the Great Wall of China was a barrier to block invading forces from entering. A window shade is a light barrier. Failing English is a barrier to getting into Harvard. When people are being excluded from joining a clique, you could say that the clique has erected a social barrier. When fighter jets fly faster than the speed of sound, they break through what feels like a wall in the sky called the sound barrier. The Green Monster at Fenway Park keeps Boston Red Sox fans from being able to watch games from outside the stadium — it's a barrier to sight. But when line drives hit the Green Monster, bouncing the ball back into left field, the Green Monster acts also a barrier to easy home runs.
Vocabulary lists containing barrier
Declaration of the Rights of Woman (1791)
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25 Words from "Baseball and Black History"
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The study also found signs of age-related decline in cells that help maintain the blood-brain barrier, the protective boundary that controls what can pass from the bloodstream into the brain.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
“Normally, law enforcement officers order people out of the car,” Dicus said, but Jianquan Bo got out of the car, drawing the focus of the deputies who struggled to communicate through a language barrier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Spanish officials began installing a makeshift, inflatable barrier extending 500 yards from a breakwater where many migrants had swum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
"When it suddenly gets so expensive, customers have a psychological barrier," Tam told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
This barrier was disappointing news to the physics world, but it was the beginning of a new branch of physics: thermodynamics.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
The advance, reported in Nature, addresses one of the most significant barriers in quantum materials research.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
Multiple neighbors were unable to speak up during the virtual hearing because of their work schedules, language barriers, age and difficulty navigating the online meeting’s comment system.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
After last week's scenes, Spain has installed floating barriers between Ceuta and Morocco, which could "legally enable" returns at the border if they are deemed elements of containment, said the lawyers Benitez and Perez.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Weight management is a deeply personal health journey, and too many people face barriers before they start treatment,” said Sid Tenneti, interim president of CVS’ pharmacy and consumer wellness segment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
A light kindled in the sky, a blaze of yellow fire behind dark barriers.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
