barrier

[ bar-ee-er ]

noun

1. 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

2. any natural bar or obstacle:

   a mountain barrier.

   Synonyms: impediment, hindrance, obstruction

3. anything that restrains or obstructs progress, access, etc.:

   a trade barrier.

   Synonyms: impediment, hindrance, obstruction

4. a limit or boundary of any kind:

   the barriers of caste.

5. Physical Geography. an Antarctic ice shelf or ice front.
6. barrier beach.
7. barriers, History/Historical. the palisade or railing surrounding the ground where tourneys and jousts were carried on.
8. Archaic. a fortress or stockade.

barrier

/ ˈbærɪə /

noun

1. anything serving to obstruct passage or to maintain separation, such as a fence or gate
2. anything that prevents or obstructs passage, access, or progress

   a barrier of distrust

3. anything that separates or hinders union

   a language barrier

4. 1. an exposed offshore sand bar separated from the shore by a lagoon
   2. ( as modifier )

      a barrier beach

5. sometimes capital that part of the Antarctic icecap extending over the sea

Word History and Origins

Origin of barrier¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of barrier¹

C14: from Old French barriere , from barre bar ¹

Synonym Study

See bar ¹.

Example Sentences

I was out, maybe in the Great Barrier Reef catching black marlin.

From The Daily Beast

Like other barrier-breakers before him, Colfer suffered his share of doubters.

From The Daily Beast

Language was no barrier; just about every tongue on the planet was babbling away, caught up in the elaborate mystique of a cult.

From The Daily Beast

It was called, rather dramatically, breaking the sound barrier.

From The Daily Beast

He saw a chain barrier covered with PVC piping that the Jeep had apparently struck and damaged before becoming stuck.

From The Daily Beast

He was fired at by the sepoys, of course, but horse and man escaped untouched and the low barrier was leaped without effort.

From Project Gutenberg

But scorn is far more volcanic than glacial and a poor barrier between sex and judgment.

From Project Gutenberg

The barrier between them lowered perceptibly again, and Tom felt a momentary return of the confidence he had lost.

From Project Gutenberg

The talk between them rarely touched reality, as though a barrier deadened their very voices.

From Project Gutenberg

Guilelessly, the old man, in a few words, had swept away the barrier Mary and I had raised between us.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• barricade
• blockade
• boundary
• fence
• hurdle
• impediment
• limit
• obstacle
• railing
• roadblock
• wall