wall

[ wawl ]

noun

1. any of various permanent upright constructions having a length much greater than the thickness and presenting a continuous surface except where pierced by doors, windows, etc.: used for shelter, protection, or privacy, or to subdivide interior space, to support floors, roofs, or the like, to retain earth, to fence in an area, etc.
2. Usually walls. a rampart raised for defensive purposes.

   Synonyms: bastion, barrier, bulwark, breastwork, battlement

3. an immaterial or intangible barrier, obstruction, etc., suggesting a wall:

   a wall of prejudice.

4. a wall-like, enclosing part, thing, mass, etc.:

   a wall of fire;

   a wall of troops.

5. an embankment to prevent flooding, as a levee or sea wall.

   Synonyms: dike

6. the outermost film or layer of structural material protecting, surrounding, and defining the physical limits of an object:

   the wall of a blood cell.

7. Soccer. a line of defenders standing shoulder to shoulder in an attempt to block a free kick with their bodies.
8. Mining.
   1. the side of a level or drift.
   2. the overhanging or underlying side of a vein; a hanging wall or footwall.

adjective

1. of or relating to a wall:

   wall space.

2. growing against or on a wall:

   wall plants;

   wall cress.

3. situated, placed, or installed in or on a wall:

   wall oven;

   a wall safe.

verb (used with object)

1. to enclose, shut off, divide, protect, border, etc., with or as if with a wall (often followed by in or off ):

   to wall the yard; to wall in the play area;

   He is walled in by lack of opportunity.

2. to seal or fill (a doorway or other opening) with a wall:

   to wall an unused entrance.

3. to seal or entomb (something or someone) within a wall (usually followed by up ):

   The workmen had walled up the cat quite by mistake.

   Synonyms: immure

wall

/ wɔːl /

noun

1. 1. a vertical construction made of stone, brick, wood, etc, with a length and height much greater than its thickness, used to enclose, divide, or support
   2. ( as modifier ) mural

      wall hangings

2. often plural a structure or rampart built to protect and surround a position or place for defensive purposes
3. anatomy any lining, membrane, or investing part that encloses or bounds a bodily cavity or structure Technical nameparies parietal

   abdominal wall

4. mountaineering a vertical or almost vertical smooth rock face
5. anything that suggests a wall in function or effect

   a wall of fire

   a wall of prejudice

6. bang one's head against a brick wall
   to try to achieve something impossible
7. drive to the wall or push to the wall
   to force into an awkward situation
8. go to the wall
   to be ruined; collapse financially
9. drive up the wall slang.
   to cause to become crazy or furious
10. go up the wall slang.
    to become crazy or furious
11. have one's back to the wall
    to be in a very difficult situation
12. See off-the-wall
13. See wall-to-wall

verb

1. to protect, provide, or confine with or as if with a wall
2. often foll by up to block (an opening) with a wall
3. often foll byin or up to seal by or within a wall or walls

Derived Forms

• ˈwall-less, adjective
• ˈwall-ˌlike, adjective
• walled, adjective

Other Words From

• wall-less adjective
• wall-like adjective
• un·wall verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of wall¹

First recorded before 900; (for the noun) Middle English; Old English w(e)all, from Latin vallum “palisade,” derivative of vallus “stake, post”; wale ¹; verb derivative of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of wall¹

Old English weall, from Latin vallum palisade, from vallus stake

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. climb (the) walls, Slang. to become tense or frantic:

   climbing the walls with boredom.

2. drive / push to the wall, to force into a desperate situation; humiliate or ruin completely:

   Not content with merely winning the match, they used every opportunity to push the inferior team to the wall.

3. go over the wall, Slang. to break out of prison:

   Roadblocks have been set up in an effort to capture several convicts who went over the wall.

4. go to the wall,
   1. to be defeated in a conflict or competition; yield.
   2. to fail in business, especially to become bankrupt.
   3. to be put aside or forgotten.
   4. to take an extreme and determined position or measure:

      I'd go to the wall to stop him from resigning.

5. hit the wall, (of long-distance runners) to reach a point in a race, usually after 20 miles, when the body's fuels are virtually depleted and willpower becomes crucial to be able to finish.
6. off the wall, Slang.
   1. beyond the realm of acceptability or reasonableness:

      The figure you quoted for doing the work is off the wall.

   2. markedly out of the ordinary; eccentric; bizarre:

      Some of the clothes in the fashion show were too off the wall for the average customer.

7. up against the wall,
   1. placed against a wall to be executed by a firing squad.
   2. in a crucial or critical position, especially one in which defeat or failure seems imminent:

      Unless sales improve next month, the company will be up against the wall.

8. up the wall, Slang. into an acutely frantic, frustrated, or irritated state:

   The constant tension in the office is driving everyone up the wall.

More idioms and phrases containing wall

• back to the wall
• beat one's head against the wall
• between you and me and the lamppost (four walls)
• climb the walls
• drive someone crazy (up the wall)
• fly on the wall
• go to the wall
• handwriting on the wall
• hole in the wall
• off the wall
• run into a stone wall

Example Sentences

Trump rattled wide swaths of the U.S. defense establishment this week with a draft executive order, whose existence was reported Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal, to create a special panel — dubbed a “warrior board” — that would have the power to force out high-ranking generals and admirals.

From Los Angeles Times

It breaks the movie out of the conceit of it actually being a live show, and suddenly you shatter the fourth wall.

From Los Angeles Times

Although the final vote totals will be fairly close, Trump won all seven key battleground states, and swept the "blue wall" across the Midwest.

From Salon

Now they’ve made the jump to sponsoring meme pages, believing they can take the same tack: plaster your company logo on everything—like a player’s jersey or a stadium wall—and let the constant exposure become brand awareness.

From Slate

Lorenz tells me that a turning point for the internet happened in 2011, when Facebook turned the “wall” into a “timeline,” which was designed to help people look back at their lives online.

From Slate

Related Words

• bar
• barricade
• barrier
• block
• dam
• embankment
• facade
• fence
• screen
• side
• surface