Adjacent Words

Wall definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WALL, n. [L., stake, post, probably originally a fence of stakes, a palisade or stockade; the first rude fortification of uncivilized men.]
1. A work or structure of stone, brick or other materials, raised to some highth, and intended for a defense or security. Walls of stone, with or without cement, are much used in America for fences on farms; walls are laid as the foundations of houses and the security of cellars. Walls of stone or brick form the exterior of buildings, and they are often raised round cities and forts as a defense against enemies.
2. Walls, in the plural, is used for fortifications in general; works for defense.
I rush undaunted to defend the walls.
3. A defense; means of security or protection. 2 Samuel 25.
To take the wall, to take the upper or most honorable place.
I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montagues.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
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: 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"
3: (anatomy) a layer (a lining or membrane) that encloses a structure; "stomach walls" [syn: wall, paries]
4: a difficult or awkward situation; "his back was to the wall"; "competition was pushing them to the wall"
5: a vertical (or almost vertical) smooth rock face (as of a cave or mountain)
6: a layer of material that encloses space; "the walls of the cylinder were perforated"; "the container's walls were blue"
7: a masonry fence (as around an estate or garden); "the wall followed the road"; "he ducked behind the garden wall and waited"
8: 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" [syn: rampart, bulwark, wall] v
1: surround with a wall in order to fortify [syn: wall, palisade, fence, fence in, surround]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English weall; akin to Middle High German wall; both from Latin vallum rampart, from vallus stake, palisade; perhaps akin to Old Norse v?lr staff — more at wale Date: before 12th century 1. a. a high thick masonry structure forming a long rampart or an enclosure chiefly for defense — often used in plural b. a masonry fence around a garden, park, or estate c. a structure that serves to hold back pressure (as of water or sliding earth) 2. one of the sides of a room or building connecting floor and ceiling or foundation and roof 3. the side of a footpath next to buildings 4. an extreme or desperate position or a state of defeat, failure, or ruin <the surrounded troops had their backs against the wall> <small companies driven to the wall> 5. a material layer enclosing space <the wall of a container> <heart walls> 6. something resembling a wall (as in appearance, function, or effect); especially something that acts as a barrier or defense <a wall of reserve> <tariff wall> • wall-like adjective II. transitive verb Date: 13th century 1. a. to provide, cover with, or surround with or as if with a wall <wall in the garden> b. to separate by or as if by a wall <walled off half the house> 2. a. immure <walled the monster up within the tomb — E. A. Poe> b. to close (an opening) with or as if with a wall III. verb Etymology: Middle English (Scots) wawlen, probably from Middle English wawil- (in wawil-eghed walleyed) Date: 15th century intransitive verb of the eyes to roll in a dramatic manner transitive verb to roll (one's eyes) in a dramatic manner

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a a continuous and usu. vertical structure of usu. brick or stone, having little width in proportion to its length and height and esp. enclosing, protecting, or dividing a space or supporting a roof. b the surface of a wall, esp. inside a room (hung the picture on the wall). 2 anything like a wall in appearance or effect, esp.: a the steep side of a mountain. b a protection or obstacle (a wall of steel bayonets; a wall of indifference). c Anat. the outermost layer or enclosing membrane etc. of an organ, structure, etc. d the outermost part of a hollow structure (stomach wall). e Mining rock enclosing a lode or seam. --v.tr. 1 (esp. as walled adj.) surround or protect with a wall (walled garden). 2 a (usu. foll. by up, off) block or seal (a space etc.) with a wall. b (foll. by up) enclose (a person) within a sealed space (walled them up in the dungeon). Phrases and idioms: go to the wall be defeated or pushed aside. off the wall US sl. unorthodox, unconventional. up the wall colloq. crazy or furious (went up the wall when he heard). wall bar one of a set of parallel bars, attached to the wall of a gymnasium, on which exercises are performed. wall-barley wild barley as a weed. wall-board a type of wall-covering made from wood pulp etc. wall cress = ARABIS. wall-fern an evergreen polypody, Polypodium vulgare, with very large leaves. wall-fruit fruit grown on trees trained against a wall for protection and warmth. wall game Brit. a form of football played at Eton. wall-knot = wale-knot. wall-painting a mural or fresco. wall pepper a succulent stonecrop, Sedum acre, with a pungent taste. wall-plate timber laid in or on a wall to distribute the pressure of a girder etc. wall rocket see ROCKET(2). wall rue a small fern, Adiantum ruta-muraria, with leaves like rue, growing on walls and rocks. walls have ears it is unsafe to speak openly, as there may be eavesdroppers. wall-to-wall 1 (of a carpet) fitted to cover a whole room etc. 2 colloq. profuse, ubiquitous (wall-to-wall pop music). Derivatives: walling n. wall-less adj. Etymology: OE f. L vallum rampart f. vallus stake

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wall Wall, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Walled; p. pr. & vb. n. Walling.] 1. To inclose with a wall, or as with a wall. ``Seven walled towns of strength.'' --Shak. The king of Thebes, Amphion, That with his singing walled that city. --Chaucer. 2. To defend by walls, or as if by walls; to fortify. The terror of his name that walls us in. --Denham. 3. To close or fill with a wall, as a doorway.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wall Wall, n. (Naut.) A kind of knot often used at the end of a rope; a wall knot; a wale. Wall knot, a knot made by unlaying the strands of a rope, and making a bight with the first strand, then passing the second over the end of the first, and the third over the end of the second and through the bight of the first; a wale knot. Wall knots may be single or double, crowned or double-crowned.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wall Wall, n. [AS. weall, from L. vallum a wall, vallus a stake, pale, palisade; akin to Gr. ? a nail. Cf. Interval.] 1. A work or structure of stone, brick, or other materials, raised to some height, and intended for defense or security, solid and permanent inclosing fence, as around a field, a park, a town, etc., also, one of the upright inclosing parts of a building or a room. The plaster of the wall of the King's palace. --Dan. v. 5. 2. A defense; a rampart; a means of protection; in the plural, fortifications, in general; works for defense. The waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. --Ex. xiv. 22. In such a night, Troilus, methinks, mounted the Troyan walls. --Shak. To rush undaunted to defend the walls. --Dryden. 3. An inclosing part of a receptacle or vessel; as, the walls of a steam-engine cylinder. 4. (Mining) (a) The side of a level or drift. (b) The country rock bounding a vein laterally. --Raymond. Note: Wall is often used adjectively, and also in the formation of compounds, usually of obvious signification; as in wall paper, or wall-paper; wall fruit, or wall-fruit; wallflower, etc. Blank wall, Blind wall, etc. See under Blank, Blind, etc. To drive to the wall, to bring to extremities; to push to extremes; to get the advantage of, or mastery over. To go to the wall, to be hard pressed or driven; to be the weaker party; to be pushed to extremes. To take the wall. to take the inner side of a walk, that is, the side next the wall; hence, to take the precedence. ``I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montague's.'' --Shak. Wall barley (Bot.), a kind of grass (Hordeum murinum) much resembling barley; squirrel grass. See under Squirrel. Wall box. (Mach.) See Wall frame, below. Wall creeper (Zo["o]l.), a small bright-colored bird (Tichodroma muraria) native of Asia and Southern Europe. It climbs about over old walls and cliffs in search of insects and spiders. Its body is ash-gray above, the wing coverts are carmine-red, the primary quills are mostly red at the base and black distally, some of them with white spots, and the tail is blackish. Called also spider catcher. Wall cress (Bot.), a name given to several low cruciferous herbs, especially to the mouse-ear cress. See under Mouse-ear. Wall frame (Mach.), a frame set in a wall to receive a pillow block or bearing for a shaft passing through the wall; -- called also wall box. Wall fruit, fruit borne by trees trained against a wall. Wall gecko (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of Old World geckos which live in or about buildings and run over the vertical surfaces of walls, to which they cling by means of suckers on the feet. Wall lizard (Zo["o]l.), a common European lizard (Lacerta muralis) which frequents houses, and lives in the chinks and crevices of walls; -- called also wall newt. Wall louse, a wood louse. Wall moss (Bot.), any species of moss growing on walls. Wall newt (Zo["o]l.), the wall lizard. --Shak. Wall paper, paper for covering the walls of rooms; paper hangings. Wall pellitory (Bot.), a European plant (Parictaria officinalis) growing on old walls, and formerly esteemed medicinal. Wall pennywort (Bot.), a plant (Cotyledon Umbilicus) having rounded fleshy leaves. It is found on walls in Western Europe. Wall pepper (Bot.), a low mosslike plant (Sedum acre) with small fleshy leaves having a pungent taste and bearing yellow flowers. It is common on walls and rocks in Europe, and is sometimes seen in America. Wall pie (Bot.), a kind of fern; wall rue. Wall piece, a gun planted on a wall. --H. L. Scott. Wall plate (Arch.), a piece of timber placed horizontally upon a wall, and supporting posts, joists, and the like. See Illust. of Roof. Wall rock, granular limestone used in building walls. [U. S.] --Bartlett. Wall rue (Bot.), a species of small fern (Asplenium Ruta-muraria) growing on walls, rocks, and the like. Wall spring, a spring of water issuing from stratified rocks. Wall tent, a tent with upright cloth sides corresponding to the walls of a house. Wall wasp (Zo["o]l.), a common European solitary wasp (Odynerus parietus) which makes its nest in the crevices of walls.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(walls) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. 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 painted light blue... She checked the wall clock. N-COUNT • -walled ...a glass-walled elevator... COMB in ADJ 2. 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... N-COUNT 3. The wall of something that is hollow is its side. He ran his fingers along the inside walls of the box. N-COUNT: with supp 4. 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. N-COUNT: with supp, usu N of n 5. 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... N-COUNT: with supp, usu N of n 6. see also cavity wall, dry-stone wall, fly-on-the-wall, hole-in-the-wall, off-the-wall, retaining wall, sea wall, stonewall, wall-to-wall 7. 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. PHRASE: V inflects, usu cont [emphasis] 8. 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. PHRASE: back inflects 9. 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. PHRASE: V inflects [emphasis] 10. 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. PHRASE: V inflects 11. fly on the wall: see fly the writing is on the wall: see writing

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Cities were surrounded by walls, as distinguished from "unwalled villages" (Ezek. 38:11; Lev. 25:29-34). They were made thick and strong (Num. 13:28; Deut. 3:5). Among the Jews walls were built of stone, some of those in the temple being of great size (1 Kings 6:7; 7:9-12; 20:30; Mark 13:1, 2). The term is used metaphorically of security and safety (Isa. 26:1; 60:18; Rev. 21:12-20). (See FENCE.)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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See ARCHITECTURE; CITY; FORTIFICATION; HOUSE; JERUSALEM; VILLAGE.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To walk or crawl up the wall; to be scored up at a public-nouse. Wall-eyed, having an eye with little or no sight, all white like a plaistered wall.

Moby Thesaurus

arch dam, arm, armor, armor-plate, backstop, balustrade, bamboo curtain, bank, bar, barbed wire, barrage, barricade, barrier, battle, bear-trap dam, beaver dam, block, blockade, bluff, boom, boundary, brattice, breakwater, breastwork, brick wall, buffer, buffer state, bulkhead, bulkhead in, bulwark, bumper, cage, castellate, cliff, cloison, close in, cofferdam, collision mat, contravallation, coop, corral, crag, crenellate, cushion, dam, defense, diaphragm, dig in, dike, dissepiment, ditch, divide, dividing line, dividing wall, division, earthwork, embankment, embattle, entrench, envelop, escarpment, face, fence, fence off, fences, fender, fortify, garrison, gate, gravity dam, groin, hedge, hedgerow, hem, hoarding, hydraulic-fill dam, immure, interseptum, iron curtain, jam, jetty, leaping weir, levee, logjam, man, man the garrison, mat, midriff, midsection, milldam, mine, moat, mole, mound, pad, pale, paling, palisade, palisades, panel, parapet, paries, partition, party wall, picket, portcullis, precipice, property line, rail, railing, rampart, retaining wall, roadblock, rock-fill dam, scar, scarp, seawall, separate, separation, septulum, septum, set apart, shock pad, shutter dam, steep, stockade, stone wall, stop, trellis, vallation, vallum, wall off, weir, wicket dam, work, zigzag fence