I. wall 1 S1 W1 /wɔːl $ wɒːl/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: weall ]
1 . AROUND AN AREA an upright flat structure made of stone or brick, that divides one area from another or surrounds an area ⇨ fence
stone/brick/concrete wall
The estate is surrounded by high stone walls.
city/garden etc wall
the ancient city walls
the Great Wall of China
We climbed over the wall into the orchard.
2 . IN A BUILDING one of the sides of a room or building
on the wall
I put some pictures up on the walls.
Bob leaned against the wall.
bedroom/kitchen etc wall
We decided to paint the bathroom walls blue.
3 . BODY the side of something hollow, especially within the body:
The walls of the blood vessels had been damaged.
cell walls
4 . wall of fire/water etc a tall mass of something such as fire or water, that stops anything from getting past:
The boat was hit by a wall of water.
5 . wall of silence/secrecy a situation in which nobody will tell you what you want to know:
The police investigation was met with a wall of silence.
6 . up the wall spoken very angry or annoyed:
That noise is driving me up the wall (=making me annoyed) .
go up the wall British English :
I’ve got to be on time or Sarah will go up the wall.
7 . off the wall informal very strange or unusual, often in an amusing way:
Some of Krista’s ideas are a little off the wall.
8 . go to the wall informal if a company goes to the wall, it fails, especially because of financial difficulties:
Many small investors will go to the wall.
9 . these four walls spoken the room that you are in, especially considered as a private place:
I don’t want anything repeated outside these four walls.
10 . be/come up against a (brick) wall to reach a point where you cannot make progress, especially because something or someone is stopping you:
We seem to have come up against a brick wall in this investigation.
11 . be climbing/crawling (up) the walls informal to be feeling extremely anxious, unhappy, or annoyed, especially because you are waiting for something or are in a situation which you cannot get away from:
The kids soon had him climbing the walls.
12 . walls have ears used to warn people to be careful what they say, because other people, especially enemies, could be listening
13 . hit the wall informal to reach the point when you are most physically tired when doing a sport
⇨ have your back to/against the wall at ↑ back 2 (21), ⇨ be (like) banging your head against a brick wall at ↑ head (31), ⇨ like talking to a brick wall at ↑ talk 1 (15), ⇨ the writing is on the wall at ↑ writing (8), ⇨ ↑ off-the-wall
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THESAURUS
▪ wall an upright flat structure made of stone or brick, that divides one area from another or surrounds an area:
The estate is surrounded by high stone walls.
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a brick wall
▪ fence a structure made of wood, metal etc that surrounds a piece of land:
The garden was surrounded by an old wooden fence.
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the chain link fence around the school
▪ railings a metal fence that is made of a series of upright bars:
the iron railings in front of the house
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The boy was leaning over the railing on the side of the boat.
▪ barrier a type of fence or gate that prevents people from moving in a particular direction:
A guard stood near the barrier.
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The police had put up barriers to keep the crowd under control.
▪ screen a piece of furniture like a thin wall that can be moved around and is used to divide one part of a room from another:
the screen around his hospital bed
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a Japanese bamboo screen
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a fire screen (=that you put near a fire)
▪ partition a thin wall that separates one part of a room from another:
The room was divided into two by a thin partition.
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The offices are separated by partitions and you can hear everything that is said in the next office.
▪ barricade a line of objects that people have put across a road, to prevent people getting past, especially as part of a protest:
The soldiers used tanks to smash through the barricades.
II. wall 2 BrE AmE verb
wall something ↔ in phrasal verb
to surround an open area with walls
wall something ↔ off phrasal verb
to keep one area or room separate from another, by building a wall:
The control room is walled off by soundproof glass.
wall somebody/something ↔ up phrasal verb
1 .
a) to fill in an entrance, window etc with bricks or stone:
The entrance had long since been walled up.
b) to fill in all the entrances and windows of a place so that someone cannot get out
2 . to keep someone as a prisoner in a building