hurtle

verb

hur·​tle ˈhər-tᵊl 

hurtled; hurtling ˈhər-tᵊl-iŋ 

ˈhərt-liŋ

intransitive verb

: to move rapidly or forcefully

transitive verb

: hurl, fling

hurtle noun

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Hurdle vs. Hurtle

Indistinguishable in speech, the words hurtle and hurdle can be a confusing pair.

Hurtle is a verb with two meanings: "to move rapidly or forcefully," as in "The stone was hurtling through the air," and "to hurl or fling," as in "I hurtled the stone into the air." Note that the first use is intransitive: the stone isn't hurtling anything; it itself is simply hurtling. The second use is transitive: something was hurtled—in this case, a stone.

Hurdle is both a noun and a verb. As a noun, its most common meanings have to do with barriers: the ones that runners leap over, and the metaphorical extension of these, the figurative barriers and obstacles we try to similarly overcome. The verb hurdle has two meanings, and they are directly related to these. It can mean "to leap over especially while running," as in "She hurdled the fence," and it can mean "to overcome or surmount," as in "They've had to hurdle significant financial obstacles." The verb hurdle is always transitive; that is, there's always a thing being hurdled, whether it be a physical obstacle or a metaphorical one.

Synonyms

• barrel
• belt
• blast
• blaze
• blow
• bolt
• bomb [slang]
• bowl
• breeze
• bundle
• bustle
• buzz
• cannonball
• careen
• career
• chase
• course
• crack (on)
• dash
• drive
• fly
• hare
• hasten
• hie
• highball
• hotfoot (it)
• hump
• hurl
• hurry
• hustle
• jet
• jump
• motor
• nip
• pelt
• race
• ram
• rip
• rocket
• run
• rush
• rustle
• scoot
• scurry
• scuttle
• shoot
• speed
• step
• tear
• travel
• trot
• whirl
• whisk
• zip
• zoom

Examples of hurtle in a Sentence

Boulders hurtled down the hill.

We kept to the side of the road as cars and trucks hurtled past us.

The protesters hurtled bottles at the police.

He hurtled himself into the crowd.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Suggs raid hurtled the federal investigation into Adams’ Turkish government ties into the public spotlight, a probe he was indicted in about a year later, becoming the first sitting New York City mayor in modern history to face criminal charges. —Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2025

The game included a skier hurtling down a snowy mountain, maneuvering around obstacles, competing against rival skiers, and featuring multiple difficulty levels, comprehensive score tracking, and even camera controls to zoom in on the action. —John Winsor, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025

The twister, packing winds of 120 mph, was strong enough to lift a school bus and hurtle it into the Winterboro gym. —Ginger Zee, ABC News, 17 Mar. 2025

The dizzying, battering swings for stocks have been coming not just day to day but also hour to hour, and the Dow hurtled between a slight gain and a drop of 689 points on Thursday. —Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English hurtlen to collide, frequentative of hurten to cause to strike, hurt

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for hurtle

• fertile
• kirtle
• myrtle
• turtle
• infertile

Kids Definition

hurtle

verb

hur·​tle ˈhərt-ᵊl 

hurtled; hurtling ˈhərt-liŋ 

-ᵊl-iŋ

1

: to move suddenly or violently

boulders hurtled down the hill

2

: hurl sense 1, fling