Search the Dictionary

nce or railing to mark the limits of a place, or to keep back a crowd. No sooner were the barriers opened, than he paced into the lists. Sir W. Scott.

Anything which obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an obstruction; a barrier. Must I new bars to my own joy create Dryden.

stone, rising in tiers one above another, and divided lengthwise through the middle by a barrier around which the track or course was laid out. It was used for chariot races, games, and public shows.

Barriers with loopholes, formerly erected on the deck of a vessel to shelter the men in a close engagement with an enemy's boarders; -- called also close quarters. [Obs.]

from their consolidation. They are classed as fringing reefs, when they border the land; barrier reefs, when separated from the shore by a broad belt of water; atolls, when they constitute separate islands, usually inclosing a lagoon. See Atoll. -- Coral root (Bot.), a genus (Corallorhiza) of orchideous plants, of a…

A barrier to prevent the flow of a liquid; esp., a bank of earth, or wall of any kind, as of masonry or wood, built across a water course, to confine and keep back flowing water.

breaking or bursting forth; a violent rush or flood of waters which breaks down opposing barriers, and hurls forward and disperses blocks of stone and other débris.

To cut off from entrance, as if by a bar or barrier; to preclude; to hinder from approach, entry, or enjoyment; to shut out or exclude; to deny or refuse; -- with from, and sometimes with of. Yet not so strictly hath our Lord imposed Labor, as to debar us when we need Refreshment. Milton. Their wages were so low as to…

ense fog. All sorts of bodies, firm and fluid, dense and rare. Ray. To replace the cloudy barrier dense. Cowper.

To free from the barriers or restrictions of a park. [R.] Spectator.

The frame or barrier of boards, or other material, usually turning on hinges, by which an entrance way into a house or apartment is closed and opened. At last he came unto an iron door That fast was locked. Spenser.

An opening for passage in any inclosing wall, fence, or barrier; or the suspended framework which closes or opens a passage. Also, figuratively, a means or way of entrance or of exit. Knowest thou the way to Dover Both stile and gate, horse way and footpath. Shak. Opening a gate for a long war. Knolles.…

a heavy failure; heavy business transactions, etc.; often implying strength; as, a heavy barrier; also, difficult to move; as, a heavy draught.

To obstruct, as a road, with a barrier; to hinder from progress or success; -- sometimes with up and out. I will hedge up thy way with thorns. Hos. ii. 6. Lollius Urbius . . . drew another wall . . . to hedge out incursions from the north. Milton.

A fence, barrier, or cover, inclosing, surrounding, or concealing something. The whole arrangement was surrounded by a hoarding, the space within which was divided into compartments by sheets of tin. Tyndall.

An artificial barrier, variously constructed, over which men or horses leap in a race. Hurdle race, a race in which artificial barriers in the form of hurdles, fences, etc., must be leaped.

That which incloses; a barrier or fence. Breaking our inclosures every morn. W. Browne.

straight row; a continued series or rank; as, a line of houses, or of soldiers; a line of barriers. Unite thy forces and attack their lines. Dryden.

The barrier or works which confine the water of a stream or canal.

From one person or place to another regarded as on the opposite side of a space or barrier; -- used with verbs of motion; as, to sail over to England; to hand over the money; to go over to the enemy. "We will pass over to Gibeah." Judges xix. 12. Also, with verbs of being: At, or on, the opposite side; as, the boat is…