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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

barrier.

A structure that bars passage.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbæɹi.ə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbaɹɪjə/British, Southern, Standard/ˈbæɹi.ɚ//ˈbɛɹi.ɚ/
  1. A structure that bars passage.

    The bus went through a railway barrier and was hit by a train.
    The bomber had passed through one checkpoint before blowing himself up at a second barrier.
  2. An obstacle or impediment.

    Even a small fee can be a barrier for some students.
  3. A boundary or limit.

    Few marathon runners break the three-hour time barrier.
  4. A node (in government and binding theory) said to intervene between other nodes A and B if it is a potential governor for B, c-commands B, and does not c-command A.

  5. A separation between two areas of the body where specialized cells allow the entry of certain substances but prevent the entry of others.

  6. The lists in a tournament.

    historical
  7. A martial exercise of the 15th and 16th centuries.

    historical · in-plural
Where this word comes from

From Middle English barrer, barrere, barryȝer, from Anglo-Norman barrere (compare French barrière), from barre (“bar”).

verb/ˈbæɹi.ə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbaɹɪjə/British, Southern, Standard/ˈbæɹi.ɚ//ˈbɛɹi.ɚ/
  1. To block or obstruct with a barrier.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English barrer, barrere, barryȝer, from Anglo-Norman barrere (compare French barrière), from barre (“bar”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.