barrier B2 Topic:People & Society US /ˈbæɹi.ɚ/ UK /ˈbæɹi.ə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual Freq #6833 Meanings 1 noun Something that stops you from making progress or reaching a goal. For many students, the cost of university is a major barrier. 2 noun A structure that blocks the way or stops people passing. Police put up barriers to hold back the crowd. 3 noun A limit that is hard to go beyond. Few runners can break the two-hour marathon barrier. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · something that stops you... obstacleroadblock 2 noun · a structure that blocks the... fencewall 3 noun · a limit that is hard to go... limitboundary Word family Forms barriers Derived forms allobarrierbarrierlessbarrierlikebarristorbiobarriercyberbarrierdiffusion-barrierhalf-barrierimmunobarriermetabarriermultibarriernanobarrier Common collocations ideological barrier Adjective + noun Etymology AI details From Middle English barryer, barrere, barryȝer, from Old French barriere (compare French barrière), from Old French barre (“bar”). barryer Middle English barriere Old French barre Old French View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # barrier **Type:** Word **Level:** B2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈbæɹi.ɚ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈbæɹi.ə(ɹ)/ **Frequency rank:** 6833 ## Meanings 1. Something that stops you from making progress or reaching a goal. 2. A structure that blocks the way or stops people passing. 3. A limit that is hard to go beyond. ## Examples - For many students, the cost of university is a major barrier. - Police put up barriers to hold back the crowd. - Few runners can break the two-hour marathon barrier. ## Derived Forms - allobarrier - barrierless - barrierlike - barristor - biobarrier - cyberbarrier - diffusion-barrier - half-barrier - immunobarrier - metabarrier - multibarrier - nanobarrier ## Roots and Affixes - Root: barryer - Root: barriere - Root: barre ## Etymology From Middle English barryer, barrere, barryȝer, from Old French barriere (compare French barrière), from Old French barre (“bar”). ## AI Etymology Barrier comes from Middle English barryer, barrere, barryȝer, from Old French barriere (compare French barrière), from Old French barre (“bar”). ## Topics - People & Society markdown