Wall Definition & Meaning

American

British

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Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms wall American [wawl] / wɔl /

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 oroff ).

   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 byup ).

   The workmen had walled up the cat quite by mistake.

   Synonyms: immure

idioms

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

   climbing the walls with boredom.

2. up the wall, into an acutely frantic, frustrated, or irritated state.

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

3. 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.

4. off the wall,

   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.

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. 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.

7. go over the wall, to break out of prison.

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

8. 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.

wall British / 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 )

      wall hangings

2. (often plural) a structure or rampart built to protect and surround a position or place for defensive purposes

3. Technical name: paries. anatomy any lining, membrane, or investing part that encloses or bounds a bodily cavity or structure

   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. to try to achieve something impossible

7. to force into an awkward situation

8. to be ruined; collapse financially

9. slang to cause to become crazy or furious

10. slang to become crazy or furious

11. to be in a very difficult situation

12. See off-the-wall

13. See wall-to-wall

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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. to seal by or within a wall or walls

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 wall More Idioms

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

Other Word Forms

• unwall verb (used with object)
• wall-less adjective
• wall-like adjective
• walled adjective

Etymology

Origin of wall

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Images of the home taken before Gadot and Varsano bought the home reveal it had a very traditional aesthetic, complete with white walls, wooden accents, and simple, clean features in all of the rooms.

From MarketWatch

Held above the division chart on my wall, I realized there was a gap.

From The Wall Street Journal

Just as it breaks down plant cells, ultrasound can disrupt the cell walls of microorganisms such as bacteria that may spoil the product.

From Science Daily

The living room of one cabin was decorated with exotic animal heads on the wall, including a zebra.

From Los Angeles Times

“I felt as an actress, to be honest, like I always would hit up against a wall of how much I was able to participate or express,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.