hurdle 1 of 2

noun

ˈhər-dᵊl How to pronounce hurdle (audio)
Definition of hurdlenext
as in obstacle
something that makes movement or progress difficult the many hurdles he had to overcome on the road to success

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

hurdle

2 of 2

verb

1
as in to leap

Related Words
2
as in to overcome

Related Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hurdle
Noun
Those changes have created new hurdles for enrollment, according to experts. — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026 Gucci suffered from tough comparables, but the main hurdle was weak store traffic in China and the United States. — Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2026
Verb
For a teen star like King, the chasm that Malone once had to hurdle between the Petersburg High School varsity team and professional basketball has been replaced by something more like a tricky but continuous series of conveyor belts. — Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 8 Apr. 2026 There hasn’t been much KP hasn’t been able to hurdle, and that showed in double-overtime wins over Canton in the second round and Pembroke in the quarterfinals, before dethroning defending state champion Medfield in the semifinals. — Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 14 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hurdle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hurdle
  1. obstacle
  2. leap
  3. overcome
  4. barrier
  5. jump
  6. surmount
  7. skip
  8. best
Noun
  • Icy weather, snowstorms, obstructive foliage and rugged terrain along the wild Rockies were just some of the obstacles Ben Nickell and Anne Koski faced on a 10-year journey to climb the highest point in each of Idaho’s 44 counties.
    — Harllie Stevenson, Idaho Statesman, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Long before launch, the team faced obstacles that nearly thwarted the endeavor — chiefly, two rejections from NASA — before finally securing the green light for the $1 billion project under the New Frontiers Program in 2011.
    — Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of obstacle
Verb
  • The 49ers scored a touchdown on fourth-and-goal as running back Christian McCaffrey leaped over the pile of linemen and stretched the ball across the goal line, giving San Francisco an early 7-0 lead.
    — AJC.com, AJC.com, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Unlike most eVTOLs, which use propellers, the Roadster utilized compressed air jets to leap over other cars and propel from the top of a ramp six or seven stories high during its product reveal earlier this month.
    — Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of leap
Verb
  • Experts who are part of consultations expect the new policy to lay down clear and consistent rules, which will also help the industry overcome challenges around land acquisition and simplify a fragmented approval process.
    — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The song addresses overcoming adversity and using others’ doubts to fuel your passion.
    — Melinda Newman, Billboard, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of overcome
Noun
  • One of the key issues has been cultural and religious barriers.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Israel regularly imposes restrictions on movement across the Palestinian occupied territory with some 925 checkpoints, roadblocks, earth mounds and other barriers.
    — Ruth Sherlock, NPR, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of barrier
Verb
  • The latest push to end the practice began in June after an 18-year-old Indian tourist, Romanch Mahajan, died after jumping from a runaway carriage.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The bill was renamed in June after Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old tourist from India, died while jumping after his mother when their carriage horse bolted on a sightseeing tour in the park.
    — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of jump
Verb
  • To surmount the issue, Apple routed a flexible graphite pipe through the hinge itself to transfer heat between the two halves, thereby increasing the surface area available for heat dissipation.
    — Eric Zeman, PC Magazine, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Several diplomatic hurdles will need to be surmounted before any recovery effort can take its first steps.
    — Helen Regan, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of surmount
Verb
  • Melting wafers, or chocolate melts, enable you to skip the tempering process.
    — Candy Hom, AJC.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • That feud went public during Jordan's 2016 stint on The Bachelorette, kicking off years of familial cold-shouldering and skipped family weddings.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of skip
Verb
  • In 2026, Keiko Fujimori narrowly defeated a left-wing candidate to win the Peruvian presidency, while most recently, in Colombia, conservative attorney Abelardo de la Espriella bested left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda.
    — David Unsworth, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Brazil’s left was caught off guard when Flávio Bolsonaro bested incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by over 2 million votes in Brazil’s first-round election.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of best

Browse Nearby Words

hunt (through)
hurdle
hurdled
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Cite this Entry

“Hurdle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hurdle. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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