hurtle

verb

hur·​tle ˈhər-tᵊl 

hurtled; hurtling ˈhər-tᵊl-iŋ 

ˈhərt-liŋ

intransitive verb

: to move rapidly or forcefully

transitive verb

: hurl, fling

hurtle noun

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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

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 Web

Several eruptions occurred on the sun's surface over the weekend, with two sending material hurtling toward Earth. —George Monastiriakos, Newsweek, 30 Dec. 2024

The impact sent the car hurtling into Singh, crushing him, cops said. —Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 26 Dec. 2024

The dry, strong Santa Ana winds are being driven by a system of high pressure building in the Great Basin, which is sending air hurtling through canyons and mountain passes to the coast, where there is low pressure. —Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 10 Dec. 2024

The fresh data offered a key clue about the health of the economy as the nation hurtles toward end-of-the-year holidays and the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English hurtlen to collide, frequentative of hurten to cause to strike, hurt

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Kids Definition

hurtle

verb

hur·​tle ˈhərt-ᵊl 

hurtled; hurtling ˈhərt-liŋ 

-ᵊl-iŋ

1

: to move suddenly or violently

boulders hurtled down the hill

2

: hurl sense 1, fling