| 1. | 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. |
| 2. | any natural bar or obstacle: a mountain barrier. |
| 3. | anything that restrains or obstructs progress, access, etc.: a trade barrier. |
| 4. | a limit or boundary of any kind: the barriers of caste. |
| 5. | Physical Geography. an antarctic ice shelf or ice front. |
| 6. | barrier beach. |
| 7. | barriers, History/Historical. the palisade or railing surrounding the ground where tourneys and jousts were carried on. |
| 8. | Archaic. a fortress or stockade. |
bar·ri·er (bār'ē-ər) n.
[Middle English barrer, from Old French barriere, from Vulgar Latin *barrāria, from *barra, bar.] |
barrier bar·ri·er (bār'ē-ər)
n.
A structure, such as a fence, built to bar passage.
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.