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Hurtle

//ˈhɜːtl̩// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun

1
An act of colliding with or hitting; a collision. countable, literary, poetic
"I flung closer to his breast, / As sword that, after battle, flings to sheathe; / And, in that hurtle of united souls, / The mystic motions which in common moods / Are shut beyond our sense, broke in on us, […]"
2
Synonym of hurtleberry or whortleberry (“any of several shrubs belonging to the genus Vaccinium; a berry of one of these shrubs”). literary, obsolete, poetic, rare
"Vaccinia nigra, the blacke VVhortle, or Hurtle, is a baſe and lovve tree, or vvoodie plant, bringing foorth many branches of a cubite high, ſet full of ſmall leaues, of a darke greene colour, […]"
3
Misspelling of hurdle. alt-of, literary, misspelling, poetic
4
A rapid or uncontrolled movement; a dash, a rush. also, countable, figuratively, literary, poetic
"[T]he war woke me up, I began to move left, and recent events have accelerated that move until it is now a hurtle."
5
A sound of clashing or colliding; a clattering, a rattling. countable, literary, poetic
"There came a hurtle of wings, a flash of bright feathers, and a great pigeon with slate-grey plumage and a neck bright as an opal, lit on a swaying finial."

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6
(Violent) disagreement; conflict. figuratively, literary, poetic, uncountable

Verb

1
To propel or throw (something) hard or violently; to fling, to hurl. archaic, literary, poetic, transitive
"He hurtled the wad of paper angrily at the trash can and missed by a mile."
2
throw forcefully wordnet
3
To cause (someone or something) to collide with or hit another person or thing; or (two people or things) to collide with or hit each other. archaic, literary, poetic, transitive
"Only in solitude could that strong man give way to his emotions; and at first they rushed forth so confused and stormy, so hurtling one the other, that hours elapsed before he could serenely face the terrible crisis of his position."
4
make a thrusting forward movement wordnet
5
To attack or criticize (someone) verbally or in writing. archaic, figuratively, literary, poetic, transitive

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6
move with or as if with a rushing sound wordnet
7
To move rapidly, violently, or without control, especially in a noisy manner. intransitive, literary, poetic
"The car hurtled down the hill at 90 miles per hour."
8
Of a person or thing: to collide with or hit another person or thing, especially with force or violence; also, of two people or things: to collide together; to clash. archaic, intransitive, literary, poetic
"Yet could not all that force and furie ſhake / The valiant champions, nor their perſons vvound, / Together hurtled both their ſteedes, and brake / Each others necke, the riders lay on ground: / But they (great maſters of vvars dreadfull art) / Pluckt forth their ſvvords and ſoone from earth vp ſtart."
9
To make a sound of things clashing or colliding together; to clatter, to rattle; hence, to move with such a sound. archaic, intransitive, literary, poetic
"The noiſe of Battell hurtled in the Ayre: / Horſſes do neigh, and dying men did grone, / And Ghoſts did ſhrieke and ſqueale about the ſtreets."
10
Of two people, etc.: to meet in a shocking or violent encounter; to clash; to jostle. archaic, figuratively, intransitive, literary, poetic

Etymology

Etymology 1

The verb is derived from Middle English hurtelen, hurtlen (“to cast, hurl, throw; to charge at; to clash in combat, fight; to collide; to injure; to knock down; to propel, push, thrust; to rush; to stumble”) [and other forms], from hurten (“to injure, wound, hurt (physically or figuratively); to damage, impair; to hurt one’s feelings, humiliate; to receive an injury; to collide into; to propel, push, thrust; to stumble”) (see further at English hurt (verb)) + -el-, -elen (frequentative suffix). The English word is analysable as hurt (“(obsolete) to knock; to strike”) + -le (frequentative suffix). The noun is derived from the verb.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Possibly a clipping of hurtleberry, from Middle English hurtil-beri (“bilberry or blue whortleberry (Vaccinium myrtillus); berry of this shrub”); further etymology unknown, compare Middle English horten, hurten (“bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)”), and Old English horte (“bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)”).

Etymology 4

See hurdle.

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