hurdle
Americannoun
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hurdles
plural
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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.
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(used with a singular verb) hurdles, a race in which contestants must leap over a number of such barriers placed at specific intervals around the track.
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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.
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a difficult problem to be overcome; obstacle.
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Chiefly British. a movable rectangular frame of interlaced twigs, crossed bars, or the like, as for a temporary fence.
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a frame or sled on which criminals, especially traitors, were formerly drawn to the place of execution.
verb (used with object)
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hurdles,
present (3rd person singular)
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hurdled,
past participle, past
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hurdling
present participle
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to leap over (a hurdle, barrier, fence, etc.), as in a race.
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to master (a difficulty, problem, etc.); overcome.
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to construct with hurdles; enclose with hurdles.
verb (used without object)
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hurdles,
present (3rd person singular)
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hurdled,
past participle, past
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hurdling
present participle
noun
-
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athletics one of a number of light barriers over which runners leap in certain events
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a low barrier used in certain horse races
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an obstacle to be overcome
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a light framework of interlaced osiers, wattle, etc, used as a temporary fence
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a sledge on which criminals were dragged to their executions
verb
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to jump (a hurdle, etc), as in racing
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(tr) to surround with hurdles
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(tr) to overcome
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hurdlesimple
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hurdlessimple
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have hurdledperfect
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has hurdledperfect
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am hurdlingprogressive
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are hurdlingprogressive
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is hurdlingprogressive
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have been hurdlingperfect progressive
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has been hurdlingperfect progressive
Past
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hurdledsimple
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had hurdledperfect
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was hurdlingprogressive
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were hurdlingprogressive
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had been hurdlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hurdle
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
Explanation
A hurdle is a barrier or other obstacle that a runner has to jump over during a race. If you trip on a hurdle, you probably won't win the race. When they're doing certain types of races, both human and horse athletes have to leap across hurdles (sometimes other animals do this too, like dogs and even rabbits). To do this is also to hurdle. There are physical hurdles, and then there are their figurative counterparts — those difficulties or hurdles that prevent you from progressing in your life.
Vocabulary lists containing hurdle
Vocabulary of the Summer Olympics
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This Feb. 29: 15 Words for "Leap"
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Might As Well Jump: Words For Leap Year
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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 couple assumed Ortiz Jara’s path to legal status would be simple, given his U.S. citizen children and wife, but most lawyers they consulted said his deportation years ago created a nearly insurmountable hurdle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
"The headline earnings numbers may still be very strong. But with expectations elevated, valuations demanding and Treasury yields near multi-decade highs, the investment hurdle has become higher as well," warned Charu Chanana at Saxo Markets.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
And once these rates are high enough, the hurdle rate for equities rises materially.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
It must pass the House to become law, which is a significant hurdle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
“And a good right it had to. What was the fourth trial, if there was one? “The fourth one was me, and it was the last hurdle.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Such a move would present major logistical hurdles for the companies, Phillips 66 and Valero, which recently closed refineries in the Los Angeles and Benicia areas, respectively.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Although a pardon could be signed "minutes after" taking office, various bureaucratic hurdles would prevent it from taking effect that same day, Thiago Bottino, a law professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Beyond the recognition, the experience felt spiritually transformative for the Guadalajara native; not the least because of the hurdles he overcame to bring it to fruition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
"Indian products face a variety of tariff and non-tariff hurdles in China that make it difficult to scale exports," says Li.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
It has everything to do with the hurdles being cleared.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
In the eighth inning, he dove after a ground ball up the middle, as shortstop Mookie Betts hurdled over him, and was slow to get up, holding his right shoulder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
In 2018, Cofnas argued in a paper that technology would soon allow this unknown to be hurdled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The day after his win at Bristol Motor Speedway hurdled Hamlin and his No. 11 team into the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs, Hamlin was still pumping his chest.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 17, 2023
He caught Mahomes’s pass and hurdled a defender into the end zone.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 2, 2022
Lindsey jumped up and ran back across the field and hurdled the fence.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
“The industry is hurdling toward ever more compute demands,” Musk told investors on Aug. 4, according to a transcript.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
Copper’s technical position is similar to where gold was in March 2024, when it broke out decisively from its 13-year base by hurdling $2,200.
From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025
Then, with Russell off the pitch, Williams blasted over, and after that came the Faletau moment, the score disallowed for Murray hurdling a tackle in the preamble.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2025
His first headline in The Times was accompanied by a photo of him hurdling tacklers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
Angie comes into the lane two over from me to practice hurdling, and I catch her eyes and try and send her a whole lot of words in that one look.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
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.
