paywall

or pay wall

[ pey-wawl ]

noun

1. a system in which access to all or part of a website is restricted to paid subscribers:

   Some newspapers have put their content behind a paywall.

2. the part of a website that can be accessed only by paid subscribers.

verb (used with object)

1. to restrict access to (all or part of a website) to paid subscribers:

   Here’s an abstract, but the full article is paywalled.

Word History and Origins

Origin of paywall¹

First recorded in 2005–10; pay ¹ + (fire)wall

Example Sentences

The idea is this will lead them to pay to be able to access more than what is available in front of the paywall.

From Digiday

Senior management at the station said they strongly opposed the decision, pointing out that Georgia Public Broadcasting provides commercial-free radio “reaching every corner of the state,” as well as digital content without a paywall.

From Washington Post

The TechCrunch List has no paywall and contains details and recommendations about more than 400 investors across 22 verticals.

From TechCrunch

They didn’t realize they were in the e-commerce business, no matter how they were monetizing their content, whether it was by a paywall, or ads, or subscriptions, contributions, you name it.

From Digiday

Separately, the federal lawsuit over the judiciary’s existing PACER paywall is pending.

From Washington Post

Have you tried to access the research that your tax dollars finance, almost all of which is kept behind a paywall?

From The Daily Beast

He would more than likely have supported some form of paywall.

From The Daily Beast

By putting up a paywall, it has told online readers that they will have to pay.

From The Daily Beast

To cope with declining advertising revenue, the Times installed a controversial paywall.

From The Daily Beast

I can read it here, because I have a pass, but you might just get the paywall if you click through.

From The Daily Beast