Pronunciations (7)
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/wɔːl/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
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/woːl/
Pronunciation notes
- British
- Southern
- Standard
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/wɔl/
Pronunciation notes
- Scotland
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/waːl/
Pronunciation notes
- Northumbria
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/wɔl/
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/wɑl/
Pronunciation notes
- cot-caught-merger
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/woːl/
Pronunciation notes
- Australia
- New-Zealand
Noun
A rampart of earth, stones etc. built up for defensive purposes.
A structure built for defense surrounding a city, castle etc.
- Examples
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The town wall was surrounded by a moat.
More examples (1)
From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.
Each of the substantial structures acting either as the exterior of or divisions within a structure.
- Examples
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There is a picture on the wall.
We're adding another wall in this room during the remodeling. The wind blew against the walls of the tent.
More examples (2)
[…] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.
Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime.
A point of desperation.
A point of defeat or extinction.
- Examples
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More examples (1)
They want Abramovich out for obvious reasons, including the optics, and they do not want to send Chelsea to the wall as they consider the club to be of cultural significance to the country.
An impediment to free movement.
- Examples
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A wall of police officers met the protesters before they reached the capitol steps.
The butterfly Lasiommata megera.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Researchers found that 15 of 17 species which commonly live on farmland – including the small tortoiseshell, small skipper and wall butterfly – show declines associated with increasing neonic use.
A barrier.
Usage- In compounds
- often
- Examples
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a seawall; a firewall
Something with the apparent solidity, opacity, or dimensions of a building wall.
- Examples
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a wall of sound; a wall of water; a wall of smoke obscured their view of enemy forces
A means of defence or security.
Usage- Figurative
- Examples
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I built a wall between myself and the bullies.
One of the vertical sides of a container.
- Examples
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The extraordinary thinness of the walls of these vases, which reminds us of the finest china, or even of Venetian glass
A dividing or containing structure in an organ or cavity.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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There is definitely some sort of lump on the back wall of my throat (right side).
The epidermal cells of the capsule wall of Jubulopsis, with nodose "trigones" at the angles, are very reminiscent of what one finds in Frullania spp.
A fictional bidder used to increase the price at an auction.
- Synonyms
A doctor who tries to admit as few patients as possible.
Usage- US usage
- Slang
- Antonyms
A line of defenders set up between an opposing free-kick taker and the goal.
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Blackburn were the recipients of another dose of fortune when from another Thomas pass Odemwingie was brought down by Jones inside the penalty area, but referee Mark Clattenburg awarded a free-kick which Chris Brunt slammed into the wall.
Two or more blockers skating together so as to impede the opposing team.
- Examples
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More examples (1)
It can also be used to maintain the presence of a wall when one of the blockers who makes up the wall is picked off by an opposing blocker attempting to shut down the wall.
Any of the surfaces of rock enclosing the lode.
A personal notice board listing messages of interest to a particular user.
Usage- Internet
A character that has high defenses, thereby reducing the amount of damage taken from the opponent’s attacks.
Face-down tiles arranged in stacked rows from which players draw new tiles.
The stage of biological aging where physical appearance and attractiveness start to deteriorate rapidly.
Usage- definite
- Slang
- Examples
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Depreciation of assets happens. Prepare yourself Marla. Get ready for the wall.
At what age would you peg the 'wall' to be for men, on or thereabouts?
More examples (3)
I have never had a problem getting the attention of men. I'm 44 and there's no wall staring me in the face
That was only six years later and Natasha is not near the wall yet
As for the wall....Im convinced part of this is just something us guys tell ourselves to 'get back'(in our minds) at all the girls who wouldn't sleep with us 5-10 years ago
The right or privilege of taking the side of the road near the wall when encountering another pedestrian; said to be taken or given.
Usage- Historical
- Examples
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More examples (1)
He related to me the following minute anecdote of this period: 'In the last age, when my mother lived in London, there were two sets of people, those who gave the wall, and those who took it; the peaceable and the quarrelsome. […] Now it is fixed that every man keeps to the right; or, if one is taking the wall, another yields it; and it is never a dispute.'
All persons, in walking the streets, whose right sides are next the wall, are intitled to take the wall.
More examples (1)
Taking the wall thus was also a social distinction. An entire episode in the second book is therefore dedicated “to whom to give the wall” and “to whom to refuse the wall” (II. 4564).
A very steep slope.
Verb
To enclose with, or as if with, a wall or walls.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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He walled the study with books.
To use a wallhack.
Usage- Slang
To wallbang.
Usage- Slang
- Transitive
- Examples
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I walled her. She's low [health].
Verb
To boil.
To well, as water; spring.
Noun
A spring of water.
Usage- dialectal
Noun
A kind of knot often used at the end of a rope; a wall knot or wale.
Verb
To make a wall knot on the end of (a rope).
Usage- Transitive
Noun
an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure
- Examples
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the south wall had a small window
the walls were covered with pictures
anything that suggests a wall in structure or function or effect
- Broader terms
- Examples
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a wall of water
a wall of smoke
More examples (2)
a wall of prejudice
negotiations ran into a brick wall
(anatomy) a layer (a lining or membrane) that encloses a structure
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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stomach walls
a difficult or awkward situation
- Broader terms
- Examples
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his back was to the wall
competition was pushing them to the wall
a vertical (or almost vertical) smooth rock face (as of a cave or mountain)
- Broader terms
a layer of material that encloses space
- Examples
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the walls of the cylinder were perforated
the container's walls were blue
a masonry fence (as around an estate or garden)
- Examples
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the wall followed the road
he ducked behind the garden wall and waited
an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes
- Broader terms
- Examples
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they stormed the ramparts of the city
they blew the trumpet and the walls came tumbling down
Verb
surround with a wall in order to fortify
- Broader terms