Meaning & use
barrier-free unit
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
a home or room designed with no steps or other obstacles so that people with disabilities can move around easily.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a barrier-free unit' or 'three barrier-free units'.
Patterns
- a barrier-free unit for someone
- live in a barrier-free unit
- provide barrier-free units
The new apartment building includes ten barrier-free units on the ground floor.
After her accident, she moved into a barrier-free unit with wide doorways and a roll-in shower.
The city requires developers to set aside a percentage of barrier-free units in every project.
Word forms
| plural | barrier-free units |
|---|
Common combinations
- barrier-free housing
- The council is investing in barrier-free housing for older residents.
- barrier-free access
- The entrance has barrier-free access via a gentle ramp.
- barrier-free bathroom
- Each unit has a barrier-free bathroom with grab bars.
- fully barrier-free
- The whole complex is fully barrier-free, from the parking lot to the roof garden.
Synonyms and how they differ
- accessible unit
- A broader term that can also mean easy to reach or enter, not only free of physical barriers inside.
- wheelchair-accessible unit
- More specific: it emphasizes use by wheelchair users, while 'barrier-free' can also cover people with other mobility needs.
Word family
- barrier-free adjective
- designed without obstacles that block movement.
Commonly confused: barrier-free unit or barrier unit?
barrier-free unit vs barrier unit
A 'barrier unit' is not a standard term; it could be confused with a unit that acts as a barrier, which is the opposite of a barrier-free unit.
Practice
A barrier-free unit is best described as a home that:
Choose one answer.
The key idea is removing physical barriers such as steps and narrow doorways. Option 0 confuses 'barrier-free' with open-plan design; option 1 is wrong because barrier-free units are for anyone with mobility needs, not only the elderly; option 3 is about security, not accessibility.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “barrier-free unit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.