Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Barrier \Bar"ri*er\, n. [OE. barrere, barere, F. barri[`e]re, fr. barre bar. See Bar, n.]
(Fort.) A carpentry obstruction, stockade, or other obstacle made in a passage in order to stop an enemy.
A fortress or fortified town, on the frontier of a country, commanding an avenue of approach.
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pl. A fence 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. Any obstruction; anything which hinders approach or attack. ``Constitutional barriers.''
--Hopkinson.-
Any limit or boundary; a line of separation.
'Twixt that [instinct] and reason, what a nice barrier!
--Pope.Barrier gate, a heavy gate to close the opening through a barrier.
Barrier reef, a form of coral reef which runs in the general direction of the shore, and incloses a lagoon channel more or less extensive.
To fight at barriers, to fight with a barrier between, as a martial exercise. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] ||
Wiktionary
n. (context nautical English) A name given to reefs separated from the adjacent coast by a channel or lagoon.
WordNet
n. a long coral reef near and parallel to the shore
Wikipedia
Barrier reef may refer to:
- a kind of coral reef
- the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
- the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System
- the Belize Barrier Reef
- the New Caledonia Barrier Reef
- Barrier Reef (TV series), an Australian television series
Barrier Reef was an Australian television series that was first screened in 1971.
Barrier Reef was about a group of marine biologists on board a sailing ship called the New Endeavour, researching around the Great Barrier Reef, off Queensland, Australia. "It was the first series in the world to feature extensive colour underwater filming on location". It was also a unique location for a TV show.
Usage examples of "barrier reef".
Ross balanced in the middle of the skiff as it bobbed along the swell of waves inside a barrier reef.
The islands of the Great Barrier Reef were falling swiftly behind him, and he was heading out into the Pacific at a speed which no other creature of the sea could match.
I've never supported capital punishment, although I did feel the urge to strangle the captain of the Pacific-Rim oil tanker who allowed his alcoholism to impair his judgement and capsize his tanker so its cargo polluted the Great Barrier Reef.
Though the barrier reef was lovely and nourished a half-dozen diving resorts, the interior consisted of low scrub-thatched hills, and much of the coast was given over to mangrove.
There were other famous grounds such as those off the ribbons of the Great Barrier Reef, at Cabo San Lucas on the Californian peninsula or in the lee of the island of Nova Scotia.
Once past the barrier reef the blue, contorted sea became as gentle as a mountain lake and turned a bright turquoise.
If I ordered him to take us to the Barrier Reef he would not flinch.
Matters came to a head at a small island on the Great Barrier Reef.
Nor does he mean to touch at the Solomons, still less to go inside the Great Barrier Reef, or anywhere near it.
They were separated from deep-blue and choppy ocean by a barrier reef or causeway, one of the features that had made this coast desirable for life-seeding base.