crash barrier
- noun
- /kræʃ ˈbæriər/
- UK
:
barrera de seguridad
Examples
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It ran her off the road, hit a crash barrier and didn't stop.
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The car skidded off the wet road but was stopped by the crash barrier along the edge.
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After the accident, the crash barrier prevented the vehicle from crossing into oncoming traffic.
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The construction crew installed a new crash barrier to enhance safety on the busy highway.
Synonyms
163
2.8
A thing that blocks movement or keeps places apart
How Protective
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'crash' (a collision) with 'barrier' (an obstacle): it denotes a barrier related to crashes, i.e., a protective roadside structure to prevent or mitigate collisions. This simple noun + noun compositional pattern is common in English and in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Crash barrier comes from a simple, literal picture: a strong barrier placed beside a road to stop or slow a car in a crash. So it now means a protective rail or fence on roads that keeps cars from leaving the road or hitting oncoming traffic.