Hurdle and hurtle

These words are often confused.

A hurdle is an obstacle or barrier.

• The racer couldn’t clear the last hurdle.

Hurdle can also be a verb. To hurdle is to jump over a hurdle.

Compare:

• The horse jumped over the hurdle.
• The horse hurdled the fence. (= The horse jumped over the fence.)

Hurtle

To hurtle is to go very fast.

• The truck hurtled down the road.
• The bus hurtled into the car.
• The bike hurtled along the road at 100 miles an hour.