barrier
Other forms: barriers
Barriers are walls, either physical or metaphorical. They can block movement — the Great Wall of China was a barrier to block invading forces from entering. A window shade is a light barrier. Failing English is a barrier to getting into Harvard.
When people are being excluded from joining a clique, you could say that the clique has erected a social barrier. When fighter jets fly faster than the speed of sound, they break through what feels like a wall in the sky called the sound barrier. The Green Monster at Fenway Park keeps Boston Red Sox fans from being able to watch games from outside the stadium — it's a barrier to sight. But when line drives hit the Green Monster, bouncing the ball back into left field, the Green Monster acts also a barrier to easy home runs.
-
a structure or object that impedes free movementtypes:balusters, balustrade, banister, bannister, handraila railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from fallingbarricadea barrier (usually thrown up hastily) to impede the advance of an enemybreakwater, bulwark, groin, groyne, jetty, mole, seawalla protective structure of stone or concrete; extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing awaybulwarka fencelike structure around a ship's deck (usually plural)crash barriera strong protective barrier that is erected around a racetrack or in the middle of a dual-lane highway in order to reduce the likelihood of severe accidentshurdlea light movable barrier that competitors must leap over in certain racesmovable barriera barrier that can be moved to allow passagerevetmenta barrier against explosivesbarricade, roadblocka barrier set up by police to stop traffic on a street or road in order to catch a fugitive or inspect traffic etc.backstop(baseball) a fence or screen (as behind home plate) to prevent the ball from traveling out of the playing fieldbar(law) a railing that encloses the part of the courtroom where the judges and lawyers sit and the case is triedchainlink fencea fence of steel wires woven into a diamond patternchicanea movable barrier used in motor racing; sometimes placed before a dangerous corner to reduce speed as cars pass in single filedoora swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehiclefife railthe railing surrounding the mast of a sailing vesselgatea movable barrier in a fence or wallhatcha movable barrier covering a hatchwaymilldamdam to make a millpond to provide power for a water millmudguard, splash guard, splash-guarda curved piece above the wheel of a bicycle or motorcycle to protect the rider from water or mud thrown up by the wheelsrail fencea fence (usually made of split logs laid across each other at an angle)stone walla fence built of rough stones; used to separate fieldstaffrailthe railing around the stern of a shipwalla masonry fence (as around an estate or garden)weira low dam built across a stream to raise its level or divert its flowweira fence or wattle built across a stream to catch or retain fishtype of:impediment, impedimenta, obstructer, obstruction, obstructorany structure that makes progress difficult
-
anything serving to maintain separation by obstructing vision or accesstypes:bara submerged (or partly submerged) ridge in a river or along a shoreblood-brain barriera mechanism that creates a barrier between brain tissues and circulating blood; serves to protect the central nervous systemcurtainany barrier to communication or visiontype of:mechanisma natural object resembling a machine in structure or function
-
any condition that makes it difficult to make progress or to achieve an objective“intolerance is a barrier to understanding”synonyms: roadblocktypes:ideological barriera barrier to cooperation or interaction resulting from conflicting ideologieslanguage barrierbarrier to communication resulting from speaking different languagesiron curtainany impenetrable barrier preventing the exchange of information or ideasiron curtainan impenetrable barrier to communication or information especially as imposed by rigid censorship and secrecy; used by Winston Churchill in 1946 to describe the demarcation between democratic and communist countriesbamboo curtainan ideological barrier around communist China especially in the 1950s and 1960sJim Crow, color bar, color line, colour bar, colour linebarrier preventing blacks from participating in various activities with whitestype of:obstacle, obstructionsomething immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing barrier
The full title of this declaration includes a focus on citizenship, and it was published two years after the declaration of rights for men and immediately after the National Assembly of France rejected a proposal to extend the rights to women. With an ironic tone, the writer and activist Olympe de Gouges dedicated it to Marie Antoinette, who -- as a woman -- was not seen as an equal. And, as a queen, she did nothing to promote gender equality (yet she was eventually given a trial and death sentence equal to that of King Louis XVI). While a postscript and form for a social contract are also included, the main structure and contents of this declaration parallel and parody its male counterpart. Compare these lists to hear the echoes. E-text available here. Here are links to our lists on rights: The Declaration of Independence, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Declaration of the Rights of Woman, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Learn these 25 words from a Times article on how Mo'ne Davis and her teammates have become educated about the African-American experience and civil rights, along with lessons on baseball.