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.
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.
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Chemical engines put the first satellite into space, the first man on the Moon, and have sent the first deep space probes hurtling out of our solar system.—David Szondy, New Atlas, 20 Jan. 2025 Lynch’s death comes at a time when America seems to be hurtling toward an ever-darker future.—Billy J. Stratton, The Conversation, 17 Jan. 2025 That language was incorporated into another measure, the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act, which passed by unanimous consent on Thursday as the government hurtles toward a shutdown.—Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Dec. 2024 In 1998, Baker took over as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim at a time when the insurance provider was hurtling toward bankruptcy.—Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 17 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hurtle
Word History
Etymology
Middle English hurtlen to collide, frequentative of hurten to cause to strike, hurt
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