wall

[[t]wɔ͟ːl[/t]]

♦

walls, walling, walled

1) N-COUNT A wall is one of the vertical sides of a building or room.

Kathryn leaned against the wall of the church...

The bedroom walls would be papered with chintz...

She checked the wall clock.

Derived words:

-walled COMB in ADJ

...a glass-walled elevator...

Our bedroom was white-walled with yellow silk curtains.

2) N-COUNT A wall is a long narrow vertical structure made of stone or brick that surrounds or divides an area of land.

He sat on the wall in the sun...

The well is surrounded by a wall only 12 inches high.

3) N-COUNT: with supp The wall of something that is hollow is its side.

He ran his fingers along the inside walls of the box.

4) N-COUNT: with supp, usu N of n A wall of something is a large amount of it forming a high vertical barrier.

She gazed at the wall of books...

I was just hit by a wall of water.

5) N-COUNT: with supp, usu N of n You can describe something as a wall of a particular kind when it acts as a barrier and prevents people from understanding something.

The police say they met the usual wall of silence...

Despite its prevalence, schizophrenia has existed behind a wall of secrecy for years.

6) → See also , dry-stone wall, , hole-in-the-wall, , retaining wall, , stonewall, wall-to-wall

7) PHRASE: V inflects, usu cont (emphasis) If you say that you are banging your head against a wall, you are emphasizing that you are frustrated because someone is stopping you from making progress in something. [INFORMAL]

I appealed for help but felt I was always banging my head against a wall...

I wondered if I was banging my head against a brick wall.

8) PHRASE: back inflects If you have your back to the wall, you are in a very difficult situation and can see no way out of it. [INFORMAL]

Their threat to hire replacement workers has the union with its back to the wall.

9) PHRASE: V inflects, usu cont (emphasis) If you say that you are climbing the walls, you are emphasizing that you feel very frustrated, nervous, or anxious.

Sitting at home would only have had him climbing the walls with frustration.

10) PHRASE: V inflects (emphasis) If you say that something or someone is driving you up the wall, you are emphasizing that they annoy and irritate you. [INFORMAL]

The heat is driving me up the wall...

I sang in the bath and drove my parents up the wall.

Syn:

drive mad

11) PHRASE: V inflects If a person or company goes to the wall, they lose all their money and their business fails. [INFORMAL]

Even quite big companies are going to the wall these days.

12) fly on the wall → see fly

the writing is on the wall → see writing

Phrasal Verbs:

- wall in

- wall off

- wall up