noun
- anything built or serving to bar passage, as a railing, fence, or the like: People may pass through the barrier only when their train is announced.
- any natural bar or obstacle: a mountain barrier.
- anything that restrains or obstructs progress, access, etc.: a trade barrier.
- a limit or boundary of any kind: the barriers of caste.
- Physical Geography. an antarctic ice shelf or ice front.
- barrier beach.
- barriers, History/Historical. the palisade or railing surrounding the ground where tourneys and jousts were carried on.
- Archaic. a fortress or stockade.
noun
- anything serving to obstruct passage or to maintain separation, such as a fence or gate
- anything that prevents or obstructs passage, access, or progressa barrier of distrust
- anything that separates or hinders uniona language barrier
-
- an exposed offshore sand bar separated from the shore by a lagoon
- (as modifier)a barrier beach
- (sometimes capital) that part of the Antarctic icecap extending over the sea
early 14c., barere, from Anglo-French barrere, Old French barriere “obstacle, gatekeeper,” from barre “bar” (see bar (n.1)). First record of barrier reef is from 1805.
n.
- A boundary or limit.
- An obstacle or impediment.
- Something that separates or holds apart.
- Something immaterial that obstructs or impedes behavior.
- A physical or biological factor that limits the migration, interbreeding, or free movement of individuals or populations.