noun

1. Chiefly Brit. a portable frame made of interlaced twigs, etc., used as a temporary fence or enclosure
2. a kind of frame or sled on which prisoners in England were drawn through the streets to execution
3. any of a series of framelike barriers over which horses or runners must leap in a special race (the hurdles)
4. a difficulty to be overcome; obstacle

Etymology: ME hirdel < OE hyrdel < Gmc base *hurd-, wickerwork, hurdle, akin to hyrd, door, Frank *hurda, a pen, fold < IE base *kert-, to plait, twist together > L cratis (see crate), Gr kyrtos, bird cage

transitive verb hurdled -·dled, hurdling -·dling

1. to enclose or fence off with hurdles
2. to jump over (a barrier), as in a race
3. to overcome (an obstacle)