Barrier vs. Carrier — What's the Difference?

A fence or other obstacle that prevents movement or access

One that transports or conveys

A material formation or structure, such as a mountain range or wall, that prevents passage or access.

One, such as a person, business, or organization, that deals in the transport of passengers or goods.

Something immaterial that obstructs or impedes

A mechanism or device by which something is conveyed or conducted.

(Physiology) A membrane, tissue, or mechanism that blocks the passage of certain substances.

(Medicine) A person or animal that shows no symptoms of a disease but harbors the infectious agent of that disease and is capable of transmitting it to others.

(Ecology) A physical or biological factor that limits the migration, interbreeding, or free movement of individuals or populations.

(Genetics) An individual that carries one gene for a particular recessive trait. A carrier does not express the trait but, when mated with another carrier, can produce offspring that do.

A movable gate that keeps racehorses in line before the start of a race.

(Physics) A boson, especially a gauge boson, that conveys a force or mediates an interaction between subatomic particles.

Often barriers The palisades or fences enclosing the lists of a medieval tournament.

A carrier wave.

(Geology) An ice barrier.

A charge-carrying entity, especially an electron or a hole in a semiconductor.

A structure that bars passage.

An aircraft carrier.

An obstacle or impediment.

An insurance or underwriting organization.

A boundary or limit.

A telecommunications company.

(grammar) A node (in government and binding theory) said to intervene between other nodes A and B if it is a potential governor for B, c-commands B, and does not c-command A.

A person or object that carries someone or something else.

(physiology) A separation between two areas of the body where specialized cells allow the entry of certain substances but prevent the entry of others.

Ellipsis of aircraft carrier

(historical) The lists in a tournament.

A carrier pigeon.

A martial exercise of the 15th and 16th centuries.

A person or company in the business of shipping freight.

(transitive) To block or obstruct with a barrier.

A signal such as radio, sound, or light that is modulated to transmit information.

A carpentry obstruction, stockade, or other obstacle made in a passage in order to stop an enemy.

(telecommunication) A mobile network operator; wireless carrier.

A fortress or fortified town, on the frontier of a country, commanding an avenue of approach.

(aviation) A certified airline.

A fence or railing to mark the limits of a place, or to keep back a crowd.

(engineering) That which drives or carries.

Any obstruction; anything which hinders approach or attack.

A piece which communicates to an object in a lathe the motion of the faceplate; a lathe dog.

Any limit or boundary; a line of separation.

A spool holder or bobbin holder in a braiding machine.

A structure or object that impedes free movement

A movable piece in magazine guns which transfers the cartridge to a position from which it can be thrust into the barrel.

Any condition that makes it difficult to make progress or to achieve an objective;

A movable piece in a planetary gear train.

Anything serving to maintain separation by obstructing vision or access

(chemistry) A catalyst or other intermediary in a chemical reaction.

A person or other organism that has a genetic trait, mutation or infection liable to cause a disease, but displays no symptoms.

A charge carrier.

A liquid or gas used as a medium for another substance.

One who, or that which, carries or conveys; a messenger.

One who is employed, or makes it his business, to carry goods for others for hire; a porter; a teamster.

That which drives or carries; as: (a) A piece which communicates to an object in a lathe the motion of the face plate; a lathe dog. (b) A spool holder or bobbin holder in a braiding machine. (c) A movable piece in magazine guns which transfers the cartridge to a position from which it can be thrust into the barrel.

Someone whose employment involves carrying something;

A self-propelled wheeled vehicle designed specifically to carry something;

A large warship that carries planes and has a long flat deck for take-offs and landings

An inactive substance that is a vehicle for a radioactive tracer of the same substance and that assists in its recovery after some chemical reaction

A person or firm in the business of transporting people or goods or messages

A radio wave that can be modulated in order to transmit a signal

A man who delivers the mail

A boy who delivers newspapers

A person who has some pathogen to which he is immune but who can pass it on to others

A rack attached to a vehicle; for carrying luggage or skis or the like