barrier

[bar-ee-er]

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.

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

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR barrier ON THESAURUS.COM

1. palisade, wall. 1–3. obstruction, hindrance, impediment.

Synonym study

1–3. See bar¹.

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

Related Words for barriers

fence, wall, limit, roadblock, blockade, obstacle, barricade, hurdle, railing, impediment, boundary, restriction, handicap, restraint, drawback, difficulty, hindrance, moat, bar, fortification

Examples from the Web for barriers

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
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
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
Able-bodied people rarely notice the barriers that riddle the world which keep the disabled from participating in society.
#YesAllWomen Should Have the Church On Their Side
Gene Robinson
June 1, 2014

Historical Examples of barriers

Barriers, moreover, must certainly have been thrown across that street.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
Already the barriers of custom and common-sense were raising their solid heads.
The Innocent Adventuress
Mary Hastings Bradley
All barriers were broken down, and she clung to him and cried.
The Eternal City
Hall Caine
She had chafed when the barriers rose between her mind and theirs.
Audrey Craven
May Sinclair
Hence there should be a free crossing of the barriers in use of materials at all times.
College Teaching
Paul Klapper

British Dictionary definitions for barriers

barrier

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

Word Origin and History for barriers

barrier

early 14c., barere, from Anglo-French barrere, Old French barriere "obstacle, gatekeeper," from barre "bar" (see bar (n.1)). First record of barrier reef is from 1805.

barriers in Medicine

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.