A barrier is something such as a rule, law, or policy that makes it difficult or impossible for something to happen or be achieved.
Duties and taxes are the most obvious barrier to free trade. [+ to]
[Also + against/between]
Synonyms: obstacle, bar, block, handicap More Synonyms of barrier
2. countable noun
A barrier is a problem that prevents two people or groups from agreeing, communicating, or working with each other.
There is no reason why love shouldn't cross the age barrier.
She had been waiting for Simon to break down the barrier between them.
When you get involved in sports and athletes, a lot of the racial barriers are brokendown.
[Also + between]
Synonyms: hindrance, check, difficulty, restriction More Synonyms of barrier
3. countable noun
A barrier is something such as a fence or wall that is put in place to prevent people from moving easily from one area to another.
The demonstrators broke through heavy police barriers.
As each woman reached the barrier one of the men glanced at her papers.
Synonyms: barricade, wall, bar, block More Synonyms of barrier
4. countable noun
A barrier is an object or layer that physically prevents something from moving from one place to another.
...a severe storm, which destroyed a natural barrier between the house and the lake. [+ between]
The packaging must provide an effective barrier to prevent contamination of the product.
Synonyms: wall, stop, fortification More Synonyms of barrier
5. singular noun
You can refer to a particular number or amount as a barrier when you think it is significant, because it is difficult or unusual to go above it.
They are fearful that unemployment will soon break the barrier of three million. [+ of]
The Popular Front failed, as expected, to pass the 5 per cent barrier.
6. See also crash barrier, sound barrier
barrier in British English
(ˈbærɪə)
noun
1.
anything serving to obstruct passage or to maintain separation, such as a fence or gate
2.
anything that prevents or obstructs passage, access, or progress
a barrier of distrust
3.
anything that separates or hinders union
a language barrier
4.
a.
an exposed offshore sand bar separated from the shore by a lagoon
b.
(as modifier)
a barrier beach
5. (sometimes capital)
that part of the Antarctic icecap extending over the sea
Word origin
C14: from Old French barriere, from barrebar1
barrier in American English
(ˈbæriər; ˈbɛriər)
noun
1. Obsolete
a fortress, stockade, etc. for defending an entrance or gate
2.
a thing that prevents passage or approach; obstruction, as a fence, wall, etc.
3.
anything that holds apart, separates, or hinders
racial barriers, barriers to progress
4.
a customs gate on a country's border
5. [sometimesB-]; Obsolete
ice shelf
6. [pl.]
a high fence of stakes enclosing the area in which a tournament of knights was held; lists
7. Horse Racing
the movable gate used to keep the horses in line at the starting point
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈobstacle
Word origin
ME barrere < OFr barriere < barre, bar1
COBUILD Collocations
barrier
class barrier
concrete barrier
cultural barrier
erect a barrier
flood barrier
insurmountable barrier
metal barrier
overcome barriers
safety barrier
security barrier
Examples of 'barrier' in a sentence
barrier
The famous security bollards and barriers will be removed.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
There is also what we think of as a language barrier.
Smithsonian Mag (2017)
Age is no barrier to being tried as long as the trial is fair and the evidence is clear.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
As long as people have these barriers it won't change.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
The report argues that one of the barriers to increased transparency is loss of control over the movement of data across an organisation and outside it.
Computing (2010)
It said:'We set the tickets at an affordable price to remove barriers so that anyone can join in.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
She doesn't see age as a barrier to success and has hit out at society's constant quest for eternal youth.
The Sun (2016)
The separation barrier will be built along them.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
You just have to go through the pain barrier.
Frankie Dettori with Jonathan Powell FRANKIE: The Autobiography of Frankie Dettori (2004)
Simple things become quite difficult with a big language barrier.
The Sun (2013)
Crowds tried to catch a peek of the guests from behind police barriers and over fences.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The control area between the barriers had meanwhile filled with cars.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Why should there be an age barrier?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
We make sure there are no barriers to people getting into the industry.
The Sun (2012)
The key is to remove barriers between leaders and voters.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Data privacy would be one issue if barriers are to be removed.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
This trend to enforced equality places barriers around the liberty to be different.
Roper, Jon Democracy and its Critics - Anglo-American democratic thought in the nineteenth century (1989)
The current planning system has been a significant barrier so moves to streamline the process are welcome.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
We needed to make sure he would go through a barrier and not back off.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Extra endorphins would help endurance athletes to hurdle the pain barrier.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Or can these misunderstandings be put down to the language barrier or bad translators?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
These are exertions that can be carried out throughout the year where age represents no barrier.
Mervyn, Leonard Preventing Heart Disease (1987)
The barriers to older people accessing help and support need to be addressed.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
That is why we must remove barriers from doing it effectively.
Christianity Today (2000)
Rose dismantled some but not all the barriers still placed before women barristers.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
Significant barriers faced independents as soon as the nomination processes and procedures emerged.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Those basking on the sunlit uplands of the chattering classes were born there or have passed through this barrier.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
A dozen of them ran in, vaulting the ticket barriers.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Language, it seemed, was as big a barrier as the fence.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
I want to pass the barriers - it's not good enough to just make a little money and stay the same.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In other languages
barrier
British English: barrier /ˈbærɪə/ NOUN
A barrier is something such as a law or policy that makes it difficult or impossible for something to happen.
Taxes are the most obvious barrier to free trade.
American English: barrier
Arabic: حَاجِز
Brazilian Portuguese: barreira
Chinese: 障碍
Croatian: prepreka
Czech: bariéra
Danish: barriere
Dutch: barrière
European Spanish: barrera
Finnish: este
French: barrière
German: Schranke
Greek: εμπόδιο
Italian: barriera
Japanese: 柵
Korean: 장벽
Norwegian: barriere
Polish: bariera
European Portuguese: barreira
Romanian: obstacol
Russian: препятствие
Latin American Spanish: barrera
Swedish: barriär
Thai: สิ่งกีดขวาง
Turkish: bariyer
Ukrainian: бар'єр
Vietnamese: chướng ngại
All related terms of 'barrier'
barrier cream
a cream used to protect the skin, esp the hands , from dirt and from the action of oils or solvents
barrier-nurse
to tend ( infectious patients ) in isolation , to prevent the spread of infection
barrier reef
a long narrow coral reef near and lying parallel to the shore , separated from it by deep water
class barrier
A barrier is a problem that prevents two people or groups from agreeing , communicating , or working with each other.
crash barrier
A crash barrier is a strong low fence built along the side of a road or between the two halves of a motorway in order to prevent accidents .
crush barrier
a barrier erected to separate sections of large crowds in order to prevent crushing
flood barrier
A barrier is an object or layer that physically prevents something from moving from one place to another.
heat barrier
→ thermal barrier
metal barrier
A barrier is something such as a fence or wall that is put in place to prevent people from moving easily from one area to another.
pain barrier
If you say that a sports player has gone through the pain barrier , you mean that he or she is continuing to make a great effort in spite of being injured or exhausted .
Ross Barrier
the ice shelf forming the S part of the Ross Sea, between Victoria Land and Byrd Land
sonic barrier
the large increase of aerodynamic resistance encountered by some aircraft when flying near the speed of sound; sound barrier
sound barrier
If an aircraft breaks the sound barrier , it reaches a speed that is faster than the speed of sound.
trade barrier
any regulation or policy that restricts international trade, esp. tariffs , quotas , etc
barrier island
a long island, parallel to the coastline , formed from a ridge of sand ( barrier beach ) thrown up by the waves, that serves the shore as a protective barrier against tidal waves, storms , etc.
barrier method
Barrier methods of contraception involve the use of condoms, diaphragms, or other devices that physically prevent the sperm from reaching the egg.
safety barrier
A barrier is something such as a fence or wall that is put in place to prevent people from moving easily from one area to another.
thermal barrier
an obstacle to flight at very high speeds as a result of the heating effect of air friction
ticket barrier
a barrier through which you are allowed to pass only if you show a valid train ticket or insert a valid train ticket into a machine
concrete barrier
A barrier is something such as a fence or wall that is put in place to prevent people from moving easily from one area to another.
cultural barrier
A barrier is a problem that prevents two people or groups from agreeing , communicating , or working with each other.
language barrier
absence of communication between people who speak different languages
security barrier
A barrier is something such as a fence or wall that is put in place to prevent people from moving easily from one area to another.
transonic barrier
a hypothetical barrier to flight at or above the speed of sound, when a sudden large increase in drag occurs
barrier contraceptive
any form of contraceptive that prevents impregnation by physically preventing the sperm from reaching the egg
barrier of ideas
the representations of objects which certain accounts of perception interpose between the objects themselves and our awareness of them, so that, as critics argue , we can never know whether there is in reality anything which resembles our perceptions
erect a barrier
A barrier is something such as a rule, law, or policy that makes it difficult or impossible for something to happen or be achieved.
Great Barrier Reef
a coral reef in the Coral Sea , off the NE coast of Australia , extending for about 2000 km (1250 miles) from the Torres Strait along the coast of Queensland ; the largest coral reef in the world
insurmountable barrier
A barrier is a problem that prevents two people or groups from agreeing , communicating , or working with each other.
blood-brain barrier
the barrier created by the walls of the capillaries of the brain that prevents certain substances, as most proteins and drugs, from passing from the blood into the brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid