Hurdle Meaning
/ˈhɜːdl̩/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn artificial barrier, variously constructed, over which athletes or horses jump in a race.
nounAn obstacle, real or perceived, physical or abstract.
Sentence Examples
The biggest hurdle for pupils writing the exam was question fourteen.
The hurdler didn't clear the final hurdle.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The athlete jumped over the last ____ and won the race.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Securing the necessary funding was the final ____ we had to overcome for the new project.
Word Origin & History
] From Middle English hurdel, hirdel, herdel, hyrdel, from Old English hyrdel (“frame of intertwined twigs used as a temporary barrier”), diminutive of *hyrd, from Proto-Germanic *hurdiz, from Pre-Germanic *kr̥h₂tis, from Proto-Indo-European *kreh₂-. Cognate with Dutch horde, German Hürde.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"My last stop was an outdoor speech to a huge crowd of Ukrainians whom I urged to stay on the course of freedom and economic reform. Kiev was beautiful in the late spring sunshine, and I hoped its people could keep up the high spirits I had observed in the crowd. They still had many hurdles to clear."
— 2005, Bill Clinton, My Life, volume II, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 588:
"The practice of folding sheep was general, and the purchase of hurdles was a regular charge in the shepherd's account."
— 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 414:
"In treason, the corporal punishment is by drawing on hurdle from the place of the prison to the place of execution, and by hanging and being cut down alive, bowelling, and quartering: and in women by burning."
— 1550, Francis Bacon, “A Preparation Toward the Union of Laws”, in James Spedding, Robert Leslie Ellis, Douglas Denon Heath, editors, The Works of Francis Bacon, volume VII, London: Longman, Green & Co., page 735:
"Such a crew! Ah! many a wretch has rid on hurdles who has done less mischief than these utterers of forged Tales, coiners of Scandal, and clippers of Reputation."
— 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, II.i:
"Hurdles, with four, five, six wretches convicted of counterfeiting or mutilating the money of the realm, were dragged month after month up Holborn Hill. On one morning seven men were hanged and a woman burned for clipping"
— 1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume IV, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The athlete jumped over the last ____ and won the race.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Securing the necessary funding was the final ____ we had to overcome for the new project.