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.
Turn right, as the map tells you to do, and you’ll encounter decaying sidewalks, with cracked and buckled concrete that turns a modest uphill walk into an obstacle course.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 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
But for the 35 residents of Kapisillit, getting to that care is an obstacle course.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
It was an obstacle course to choose my words wisely and put Paul at ease about my intentions.
From Salon ● May 23, 2025
“And the time my brother covered himself with meat and ran through an obstacle course of drakons—” “You said Hephaestus-TV would show it during prime time,” Otis said.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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.
