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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.
Examples of hurtle in a Sentence
Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 11 Mar. 2025
That’s when a football field-sized asteroid could hurtle toward Earth and potentially crash into the planet, according to scientists.
—Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 5 Feb. 2025
Regions of intense magnetic activity known as sunspots are proliferating on the solar surface and are capable of releasing intense bursts of radiation resulting in solar flares that can hurtle toward Earth at the speed of light, according to NOAA.
—Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 24 Jan. 2025
Without warning, a heavy object struck his shoulders from behind, hurtling his 130- pound frame to the ground and sending his rifle spinning from stunned fingers.
—Al Wolter, Outdoor Life, 10 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Hurtle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurtle. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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