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Webster 1913 Edition


Hurdle

Hur′dle

,
Noun.
[OE.
hurdel
,
hirdel
, AS.
hyrdel
; akin to D.
horde
, OHG.
hurt
, G.
hürde
a hurdle, fold, pen, Icel.
hur[GREEK]
door, Goth.
haúrds
, L.
cratis
wickerwork, hurdle, Gr. [GREEK], Skr.
k[GREEK]t
to spin,
c[GREEK]t
to bind, connect. √16. Cf.
Crate
,
Grate
,
Noun.
]
1.
A movable frame of wattled twigs, osiers, or withes and stakes, or sometimes of iron, used for inclosing land, for folding sheep and cattle, for gates, etc.; also, in fortification, used as revetments, and for other purposes.
2.
In England, a sled or crate on which criminals were formerly drawn to the place of execution.
Bacon.
3.
An artificial barrier, variously constructed, over which men or horses leap in a race.
Hurdle race
,
a race in which artificial barriers in the form of hurdles, fences, etc., must be leaped.

Hur′dle

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Hurdleed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Hurdleing
.]
To hedge, cover, make, or inclose with hurdles.
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition


Hurdle

HUR'DLE

,
Noun.
[L. crates.]
1.
A texture of twigs, osiers or sticks; a crate of various forms, according to its destination. The English give this name to a sled or crate on which criminals are drawn to the place of execution. In this sense, it is not used in America.
2.
In fortification, a collection of twigs or sticks interwoven closely and sustained by long stakes. It is made in the figure of a long square, five or six feet by three and a half. Hurdles serve to render works firm, or to cover traverses and lodgments for the defense of workmen against fire-works or stones.
3.
In husbandry, a frame of split timber or sticks wattled together, serving for gates, inclosures, &c.

Definition 2024


hurdle

hurdle

English

Noun

hurdle (plural hurdles)

  1. An artificial barrier, variously constructed, over which athletes or horses jump in a race (for example the 100 metres hurdles).
  2. A perceived obstacle.
  3. A movable frame of wattled twigs, osiers, or withes and stakes, or sometimes of iron, used for enclosing land, for folding sheep and cattle, for gates, etc.; also, in fortification, used as revetments, and for other purposes.
    • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, Volume 4, page 414.
      The practice of folding sheep was general, and the purchase of hurdles was a regular charge in the shepherd's account.
  4. (Britain, obsolete) A sled or crate on which criminals were formerly drawn to the place of execution.
    • 1550, Francis Bacon, A Preparation Toward the Union of Laws, in The Works of Francis Bacon, edited by James Spedding, Robert Leslie Ellis, and Douglas Denon Heath, London: Longman, Green & Co., Vol. VII, p. 735,
      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.
    • 1855, Matthew Arnold, Balder Dead, Part II, in The Poems of Matthew Arnold, 1840-1867, Oxford University Press, 1909, pp. 250-51,
      Behind flock'd wrangling up a piteous crew, / Greeted of none, disfeatur'd and forlorn— / Cowards, who were in sloughs interr'd alive: / And round them still the wattled hurdles hung / Wherewith they stamp'd them down, and trod them deep, / To hide their shameful memory from men.
  5. (T-flapping) Misspelling of hurtle.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:hindrance

Translations

Verb

hurdle (third-person singular simple present hurdles, present participle hurdling, simple past and past participle hurdled)

  1. To jump over something while running.
    He hurdled the bench in his rush to get away.
  2. To compete in the track and field events of hurdles (e.g. high hurdles).
  3. To overcome an obstacle.
  4. To hedge, cover, make, or enclose with hurdles.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)
  5. (T-flapping) Misspelling of hurtle.

Translations

Anagrams