I. ˈwȯl noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English weall rampart, wall; akin to Old Saxon wal rampart, Middle High German wall; all from a prehistoric West Germanic word borrowed from Latin vallum rampart set with palisades, wall, from vallus stake, palisade; akin to Sanskrit vala beam, pole, Gothic walus stick, staff, Old Norse völr round stick, valr round, Latin volvere to roll — more at voluble
1.
a.
(1) : a high thick masonry structure forming an enclosure chiefly for defense against invasion
hurled stones and spears at the attackers from the wall
— usually used in plural
citizens ran to defend the walls of the city
(2) : a masonry fence around a garden, park, or estate
the wall of the villa follows the road for miles
b. : a rampart of considerable height and thickness and usually great length serving as a fortification (as on a border between territories or countries)
the great Chinese wall extended for more than 1500 miles
c. : a structure that serves to hold back pressure (as of water or sliding earth) — see retaining wall , seawall
2. : a vertical architectural member used to define and divide space
a continuously curving wall gives the building its shape
especially : one of the sides of a room or building that connects the floor and ceiling or foundation and roof
the inside walls are all movable — London Calling
the house has a glass wall facing the garden
— see cavity wall , faced wall , nonbearing partition , party wall , storage wall
3. : the side of a footpath next to buildings
the passenger who takes the wall brushes the dim glass with his sleeve — Charles Dickens
4.
a. : an extreme or desperate position — usually used in the phrase to the wall
schools whose teachers … were driven to the wall financially — Dixon Wecter
pushing them to the wall in the competitive struggle — T.W.Arnold
b. : a state of defeat, failure, or ruin — usually used in the phrase to the wall
let the weakest go to the wall — Art & Industry
since the war, several … magazines have gone to the wall — P.W.Crowcroft
5. walls plural : a physical, intellectual, or spiritual area of influence
evident to those outside our academic walls — J.B.Conant
6.
a. : the external layer of structural material surrounding an object
surgical instruments for penetrating the wall of the body
muscle wall
— often used in plural
staves form the walls of a barrel
stomach walls
b.
(1) : one of the surfaces of country rock lying adjacent to a vein, ore deposit, or coal seam
(2) : one of the surfaces of a geological fault zone — see footwall , hanging wall
7.
a.
(1) : something resembling a wall in appearance
a towering mountain wall
a wall of water, 75 feet high, … rushed upon the city — American Guide Series: Pennsylvania
a stream flowing between the valley walls
(2) : something that resembles a wall in function especially by establishing limits or providing defense
a sovereign state would be outside the American tariff walls — S.F.Bemis
two men hurt on the football team's forward wall
going through the enemy's wall in linear formation — Tom Wintringham
b. : something immaterial or intangible that acts as a barrier to communication, understanding, or accomplishment
the wall of reserve the old man had built around himself — Ben Riker
break down the wall of condescension — Charles Angoff
unable to break through the wall of employer resistance — Frank O'Leary
8. : the arrangement of tiles previous to the drawing of hands in a Mah-Jongg game
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English wallen, from wall, n.
1.
a. : to provide or cover with a wall
to keep out street noises … the house was walled on that facade — Current Biography
b. : to surround or confine with or as if with walls : hem in — usually used with in
planning to wall in the garden for privacy
a lake walled in by snow-covered peaks
was walled in by authority — W.P.Webb
c. : to separate or shut out by means of or as if by means of a wall : partition — usually used with off
walled off half the house to make two apartments
walled off their world … from the rest of human society — H.S.Truman
d. : to border or form a boundary on in the manner of a wall : bound
tall chestnut trees wall the broad avenue
2.
a. : to shut behind a wall : seal within or as if within walls : immure , incarcerate — usually used with up
had walled the monster up within the tomb — E.A.Poe
compelled … to spend their time walling up this danger — Lillian Smith
b. : to seal up (an opening) with or as if with a wall
walled up the crevice — Oliver La Farge
3. : to cover the walls of (a room) with something
this study is walled with books — Lucien Price
Synonyms: see enclose
III. adjective
: of or relating to a wall : beside, attached to, or growing on a wall
wall cabinets
a wall clock
wall plants
IV. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English (Scots) wawlen, probably from Middle English wawil- (in wawil-eghed walleyed) — more at walleyed
transitive verb
: to roll (one's eyes) in or as if in expression of emotion
mooning about, … playacting and walling her eyes — Frances G. Patton
intransitive verb
of the eyes : to roll in a dramatic manner
big eyes would wall up to the ceiling with a look of fear in them — Carson McCullers
V. noun
( -s )
: wall knot
VI. noun
•
- up against the wall
- up the wall