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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
Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2025
The extreme gravitational forces in this interaction sent one star hurtling into space while the other remained bound to the black hole.
—The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 11 Feb. 2025
The architecture of the island was designed to perfectly match the emotional cliff Roz has been hurtling towards from the start of the story.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 10 Feb. 2025
Philadelphia plane crash debris hurtles through diner window, strikes man in head
Debris from the deadly medical plane crash in Philadelphia on Friday hurtled through a window of a nearby diner, hitting a patron in the head as others ducked for cover.
—Stephen Sorace, Fox News, 3 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for hurtle 
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Cite this Entry
“Hurtle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurtle. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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