# hurdle

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhɜːdl̩/ · frequency rank #16,938

## Definitions
1. An artificial barrier, variously constructed, over which athletes or horses jump in a race.
2. An obstacle, real or perceived, physical or abstract.
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. A sled or crate on which criminals were drawn to the place of execution.
5. A piece that is jumped over by a hopper piece.

## Etymology
]
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.

## Easily confused with
- **hurl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hurdle-vs-hurl)
- **hustle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hurdle-vs-hustle)
- **hurley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hurdle-vs-hurley)
- **hurled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hurdle-vs-hurled)
- **hurdles** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hurdle-vs-hurdles)
- **Hurd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hurd-vs-hurdle)
- **horde** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/horde-vs-hurdle)
- **handle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/handle-vs-hurdle)
- **hardly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hardly-vs-hurdle)
- **humble** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/humble-vs-hurdle)
- **Hubble** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hubble-vs-hurdle)
- **huddle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/huddle-vs-hurdle)
- **Hardie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hardie-vs-hurdle)
- **huddled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/huddled-vs-hurdle)

## Common misspellings (9)
`hhurdle`, `hrudle`, `hudrle`, `hurddle`, `hurdel`, `hurdlle`, `hurlde`, `hurrdle`, `uhrdle`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hurdle