obstacle course
Americannoun
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obstacle courses
plural
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a military training area having obstacles, as hurdles, ditches, and walls, that must be surmounted or crossed in succession.
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Informal. an event, situation, course of action, or the like that presents many challenges or difficulties.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
East Williamsburg is a sprawling obstacle course of shops and bars, all catering to the younger new residents who have moved to New York City in order to work hard and play harder.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
Yuriy, a senior instructor who led one of the squads across the gruelling obstacle course, has at times pondered the necessity of such trials given the nature of drone warfare.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Pitnick describes fertilization as an obstacle course rather than a straightforward race.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
None of these are true gaming machines, but I still enjoyed playing the “Obby But You’re On a Bike” obstacle course and the space exploration-gone-wrong adventure “Beyond the Dark.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
Along their route, manhole covers had been blown off by the force of the waves, turning the roads between buildings into an obstacle course of open holes lurking beneath the standing water.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
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.
