barrier
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (3)barriers
- a structure or object that impedes free movementType of obstruction, obstructorKinds fence, railing, bannister, dam, grate, roadblock, breakwater, barricade, revetment, fender +6 more
- any condition that makes it difficult to make progress or to achieve an objective“intolerance is a barrier to understanding”Synonyms: roadblockType of obstacle, obstructionKinds color barrier, ideological barrier, language barrier
- anything serving to maintain separation by obstructing vision or accessType of mechanismKinds curtain, blood-brain barrier, bar
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: OE. barrere, barere, F. barrière, fr. barre bar. See Bar, noun
1. Fortification A carpentry obstruction, stockade, or other obstacle made in a passage in order to stop an enemy.
2. A fortress or fortified town, on the frontier of a country, commanding an avenue of approach.
3. pl. A fence or railing to mark the limits of a place, or to keep back a crowd.
No sooner were the barriers opened, than he paced into the lists.— Sir Walter Scott
4. Any obstruction; anything which hinders approach or attack. “Constitutional barriers.” Francis Hopkinson
5. Any limit or boundary; a line of separation.
'Twixt that [instinct] and reason, what a nice barrier!— Alexander Pope
Barrier gate, a heavy gate to close the opening through a barrier. — Barrier reef, a form of coral reef which runs in the general direction of the shore, and incloses a lagoon channel more or less extensive. — To fight at barriers, to fight with a barrier between, as a martial exercise. obsolete
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54