blockade vs hurdle

blockade

noun
  • Any form of formal isolation or inhibition of something, especially with the force of law or arms. 

  • The ships or other forces used to effect a naval blockade. 

  • Inhibition of the activity (function) of chemical messengers or their receptors, such as (often) receptor antagonism. 

  • The physical blocking or surrounding of a place, especially a port, in order to prevent commerce and traffic in or out. 

  • Preventing an opponent's pawn moving by placing a piece in front of it. 

verb
  • To create a blockade against. 

hurdle

noun
  • An obstacle, real or perceived, physical or abstract. 

  • An artificial barrier, variously constructed, over which athletes or horses jump in a race. 

  • A movable frame of wattled twigs, osiers, or withes and stakes, or sometimes of iron, used for enclosing land, for folding sheep and cattle, for gates, etc.; also, in fortification, used as revetments, and for other purposes. 

verb
  • To compete in the track and field events of hurdles (e.g. high hurdles). 

  • To overcome an obstacle. 

  • To jump over something while running. 

  • To hedge, cover, make, or enclose with hurdles. 

How often have the words blockade and hurdle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )