From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhurdlehur‧dle1 /ˈhɜːdl $ ˈhɜːr-/ ●●○ noun 1 [countable]PROBLEM a problem or difficulty that you must deal with before you can achieve something SYN obstacle Finding enough money for the project was the first hurdle.overcome/clear/get over etc a hurdle (=deal successfully with a problem)2 [countable]DSO one of a series of small fences that a person or horse has to jump over during a raceclear a hurdle (=successfully jump over a hurdle)3 → the 100-metres/400-metres hurdles
Examples from the Corpus
hurdle• Gunnell gave herself the perfect wedding present when she unwrapped an Olympic gold medal in the 400metres hurdles.• Scientists are beginning to argue that psychological fitness could be the biggest hurdle to a Mars mission.• There are lots of bureaucratic hurdles to deal with when adopting a child.• The telecommunications bill still faces a few hurdles.• Requiring school uniforms can be a financial hurdle for the poor.• But admission is merely the first hurdle a student must clear in higher education.• Devising an evocative name is only the first hurdle.• They constituted an impossible hurdle to trade between the two superpowers.• To clear this last hurdle I was forced to queue up outside a shed with a number of soldiers.• Women face a lot of legal hurdles trying to prove sexual harassment.• The main hurdle at present is getting the council's permission.• Analysts estimate sales could reach $ 300 million a year once regulatory hurdles are cleared and full marketing gets under way.• The bill has cleared all the hurdles before it and will soon become law.hurdlehurdle2 verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]JUMP to jump over something while you are running He hurdled the fence and ran off down the street.2 [intransitive]DSO to run in hurdle races —hurdler noun [countable] —hurdling noun [uncountable]→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
hurdle• Ronald Reagan, born 35 years before Clinton, had different obstacles to hurdle.• But it was Lieutenant Harvey who was still leading the charge as he hurdled elegantly over the wire and into no-man's-land.• He even hurdled Garrett at the Cowboys' 20-yard line.• As the bell sounded to denote my last lap, I decided to hurdle the barriers.• Barrett hurdled the fence and ran down the street.• Christie, involved in an angry bust-up with reporters and photographers on Friday, hurdled two steel barriers to avoid questions afterwards.Origin hurdle1 Old English hyrdel 