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PlainSpell

hurdle

hurd·le/ˈhɝd(ə)l/noun, verb

hurdle is spelled H-U-R-D-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (hurd·le). It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “hurdle vs hurtle” about 480 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, hurdle means “An artificial barrier, variously constructed, over which athletes or horses jump in a race” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hurdle is hurdles.

How many letters and syllables are in hurdle?

Letters6: H-U-R-D-L-E
Syllables2: hurd·le
In writing2.6 times per million words; the 16,896th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is hurdle?

Hurdle appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce hurdle?

  • UK /ˈhɜːdl̩/
  • US /ˈhɝd(ə)l/

Hurdle has 2 syllables, split hurd·le in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hurdle.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with hurdle

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

hurdle vs hurtle480 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with hurdle?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hurdle from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹdl/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of hurdle

  • hurdles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • hurdling participle, present
  • hurdled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does hurdle mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An artificial barrier, variously constructed, over which athletes or horses jump in a race.

    He ran in the 100 metres hurdles.

  2. 2

    An obstacle, real or perceived, physical or abstract.

  3. 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.

  4. 4

    UKA sled or crate on which criminals were drawn to the place of execution.

    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, /

  5. 5

    A piece that is jumped over by a hopper piece.

verb

  1. 1

    To jump over something while running.

    He hurdled the bench in his rush to get away.

  2. 2

    To compete in the track and field events of hurdles (e.g. high hurdles).

  3. 3

    To overcome an obstacle.

  4. 4

    To hedge, cover, make, or enclose with hurdles.

  5. 5

    To jump over another piece without capturing it.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Hurdle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchhaie (artificial barrier over which people or horses…), obstacle, barrière (obstacle), claie (movable frame of wattled twigs)
GermanHürde (artificial barrier over which people or horses…), Hindernis, Barriere (obstacle), Flechtzaun (movable frame of wattled twigs), Hürden laufen (to compete in the track and field events of…), eine Hürde nehmen (to overcome an obstacle)
Portugueseobstáculo, barreira (artificial barrier over which people or horses…)
Spanishvalla (artificial barrier over which people or horses…), vallar (to hedge, cover, make, or enclose with hurdles)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does hurdle come from?

] 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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after hurdle