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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
Kels Dayton, Hartford Courant, 30 Mar. 2026
Residents complain about damage to their vehicles because of rocks kicked up by the trucks hurtling to and from the Meta site.
—Sharon Goldman, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2026
Whether by accident or design, Iran has repeatedly sent projectiles hurtling in the direction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which are sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians, respectively.
—Marissa Newman, Bloomberg, 24 Mar. 2026
Framed against the clear blue sky, the pictures of a single missile hurtling toward the building and men raising their arms in disbelief as the structure fell to the ground were widely distributed at the time.
—Max Butterworth, NBC news, 19 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hurtle
Cite this Entry
“Hurtle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hurtle. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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