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.
Recent Examples on the WebHulk versus Hulk throwdown, director Coira does her best to avoid Marvel’s traditionally muddy battles by making this one feel more elastic as the Hulks furiously hurtle through the palm trees. Caroline Framke, Variety, 17 Aug. 2022 Every summer, the warm waters off the northwest coast of Africa spin off cyclonic systems that hurtle across the Atlantic, reaching the easternmost stretch of these islands — where Barbados stands sentinel. Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 27 July 2022 Every summer, the warm waters off the northwest coast of Africa spin off cyclonic systems that hurtle across the Atlantic, reaching the easternmost stretch of these islands — where Barbados stands sentinel.New York Times, 27 July 2022 Except that these growth trends might hurtle offtrack long before the end of the decade. Jamie Gold, Forbes, 28 June 2022 The warning sounds come too shortly for one to do anything but hurtle to the ground, hoping to be far enough and hidden enough to avoid shrapnel.Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2022 The warning sounds come too shortly for one to do anything but hurtle to the ground, hoping to be far enough and hidden enough to avoid shrapnel. Nabih Bulos, Anchorage Daily News, 12 June 2022 Who’s to blame for a snow bank that acted like a ramp and caused cars in two separate accidents to hurtle off an Interstate 90 overpass and roll over multiple times? Laura Johnston, cleveland, 14 Apr. 2022 Skiers hurtle themselves down mountains faster than cars drive on highways.New York Times, 6 Feb. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English hurtlen to collide, frequentative of hurten to cause to strike, hurt