Link Centre Dictionary

wall

UK/wɔːl/ US/woːl/ very common slang us
noun (8) verb (1)

noun

1.

an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure

  • “the south wall had a small window”
  • “the walls were covered with pictures”
2.

an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes

  • “they stormed the ramparts of the city”
  • “they blew the trumpet and the walls came tumbling down”
Synonyms
3.

anything that suggests a wall in structure or function or effect

  • “a wall of water”
  • “a wall of smoke”
  • “a wall of prejudice”
  • “negotiations ran into a brick wall”
4.

a masonry fence (as around an estate or garden)

  • “the wall followed the road”
  • “he ducked behind the garden wall and waited”
5.

(anatomy) a layer (a lining or membrane) that encloses a structure

  • “stomach walls”
Synonyms
6.

a vertical (or almost vertical) smooth rock face (as of a cave or mountain)

7.

a layer of material that encloses space

  • “the walls of the cylinder were perforated”
  • “the container”
8.

a difficult or awkward situation

  • “his back was to the wall”
  • “competition was pushing them to the wall”

verb

1.

Origin

From Middle English wal, from Old English weall (“wall, dike, earthwork, rampart, dam, rocky shore, cliff”), from Proto-West Germanic *wall (“wall, rampart, entrenchment”), from Latin vallum (“wall, rampart, entrenchment, palisade”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”). Perhaps conflated with waw (“a wall within a house or dwelling, a room partition”), from Middle English wawe, from Old English wāg, wāh (“an interior wall, divider”), see waw. Cognate with North Frisian wal (“wall”), Saterland Frisian Waal (“wall, rampart, mound”), Dutch wal (“wall, rampart, embankment”), German Wall (“rampart, mound, embankment”), Swedish vall (“mound, wall, bank”). More at wallow, walk.

Phrases

  • abdominal wall
  • accent wall
  • adiabatic wall
  • anterior wall
  • Apartheid Wall
  • back against the wall
  • back to the wall
  • backs to the wall

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.