barrier

[ bar-ee-er ]

/ ˈbær i ər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR barrier ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

any natural bar or obstacle: a mountain barrier.

anything that restrains or obstructs progress, access, etc.: a trade barrier.

a limit or boundary of any kind: the barriers of caste.

Physical Geography. an antarctic ice shelf or ice front.

barrier beach.

barriers, History/Historical. the palisade or railing surrounding the ground where tourneys and jousts were carried on.

Archaic. a fortress or stockade.

Nearby words

barriada, barricade, barricado, barrie, barrie, j. m., barrier, barrier beach, barrier cream, barrier island, barrier of ideas, barrier-nurse

Origin of barrier

1275–1325; Middle English < Middle French barriere (barre bar¹ + -iere < Latin -āria -ary); replacing Middle English barrere < Anglo-French < Medieval Latin barrera

SYNONYMS FOR barrier

1 palisade, wall.

1–3 obstruction, hindrance, impediment.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR barrier ON THESAURUS.COM

Synonym study

1–3. See bar¹.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for barriers

Little by little, the barriers between the mainstream and adult worlds are breaking down.
Porn Keeps Up with the Kardashians: Belle Knox on the Mainstreaming of Adult Stars|Aurora Snow|September 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One would be safe “even if you are 10 feet away and there were no barriers.”
Sanjay Gupta, on the Ebola Front Lines|Tim Teeman|August 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A school with zero forcible sexual offenses may alsoindicate that "people aren't reporting because of other barriers."
No Rapes On Campus? No Way.|Emily Shire|July 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But when it came to the seven identified sites with ISIS affiliations, the Citizen Lab found no barriers to entry.
Iraq’s Internet Blockade Doesn’t Touch ISIS Sites|Gideon Resnick|June 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The first in the room, to knock down the door, to break down the barriers, to pave the road that we all walk on.
Barbara Walters’s Final ‘The View’: A Tearful Farewell Befitting an Icon|Kevin Fallon|May 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As the afternoon advances, for variation, there is a fight at the barriers.
Life on a Mediaeval Barony|William Stearns Davis
I never minded the barriers; but there was always a slight shock about the other, unless one was very hard hit indeed.
Man And Superman|George Bernard Shaw
Whether we shall ever surmount these barriers God alone knows.
The Chalice Of Courage|Cyrus Townsend Brady
Now the awful ban was lifted, the barriers were down; what had been hidden was revealed, what had been forbidden was permitted.
Love's Pilgrimage|Upton Sinclair
It seemed as though all the barriers of the past were broken down.
The Day of Judgment|Joseph Hocking

British Dictionary definitions for barriers

barrier

/ (ˈbærɪə) /

noun

anything serving to obstruct passage or to maintain separation, such as a fence or gate

anything that prevents or obstructs passage, access, or progressa barrier of distrust

anything that separates or hinders uniona language barrier

an exposed offshore sand bar separated from the shore by a lagoon
(as modifier)a barrier beach

(sometimes capital) that part of the Antarctic icecap extending over the sea

Word Origin for barrier

C14: from Old French barriere, from barre bar 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for barriers

barrier

[ băr′ē-ər ]

n.

A boundary or limit.

An obstacle or impediment.

Something that separates or holds apart.

Something immaterial that obstructs or impedes behavior.

A physical or biological factor that limits the migration, interbreeding, or free movement of individuals or populations.