wall
♦♦♦ wall /w'ɔːl/ (walls)
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 painted light blue...
She checked the wall clock.
● -walled [COMB in ADJ]
...a glass-walled elevator...
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...
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...
6
see also cavity wall, dry-stone wall, hole-in-the-wall, hole-in-the-wall, off-the-wall,
retaining wall, sea wall, wall-to-wall, wall-to-wall
7 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu cont
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
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.
10 [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.
11
fly on the wall: see fly
the writing is on the wall: see writingcav|ity wall (cavity walls)
[N-COUNT] oft N n
A cavity wall is a wall that consists of two separate walls with a space between them. Cavity walls help to keep out noise and cold. (mainly BRIT)
...cavity wall insulation.dry-stone wall (dry-stone walls)
in AM, use dry wall
[N-COUNT]
A dry-stone wall is a wall that has been built by fitting stones together without using any cement.re|tain|ing wall (retaining walls)
[N-COUNT]
A retaining wall is a wall that is built to prevent the earth behind it from moving.sea wall (sea walls)
[N-COUNT]
A sea wall is a wall built along the edge of the sea to stop the sea flowing over the land or destroying it.
Cherbourg had a splendid harbour enclosed by a long sea wall.video wall (video walls)
[N-COUNT]
A video wall is a set of video screens that are connected together, so that each screen shows a part of the whole picture or so that the same picture is repeated on each screen.wall in
[PHRASAL VERB] usu passive, be V-ed P
If someone or something is walled in, they are surrounded or enclosed by a wall or barrier.
He is walled in by a mountain of papers in his cluttered Broadway office.
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 painted light blue...
She checked the wall clock.
● -walled [COMB in ADJ]
...a glass-walled elevator...
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...
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...
6
see also cavity wall, dry-stone wall, hole-in-the-wall, hole-in-the-wall, off-the-wall,
retaining wall, sea wall, wall-to-wall, wall-to-wall
7 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu cont
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
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.
10 [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.
11
fly on the wall: see fly
the writing is on the wall: see writingcav|ity wall (cavity walls)
[N-COUNT] oft N n
A cavity wall is a wall that consists of two separate walls with a space between them. Cavity walls help to keep out noise and cold. (mainly BRIT)
...cavity wall insulation.dry-stone wall (dry-stone walls)
in AM, use dry wall
[N-COUNT]
A dry-stone wall is a wall that has been built by fitting stones together without using any cement.re|tain|ing wall (retaining walls)
[N-COUNT]
A retaining wall is a wall that is built to prevent the earth behind it from moving.sea wall (sea walls)
[N-COUNT]
A sea wall is a wall built along the edge of the sea to stop the sea flowing over the land or destroying it.
Cherbourg had a splendid harbour enclosed by a long sea wall.video wall (video walls)
[N-COUNT]
A video wall is a set of video screens that are connected together, so that each screen shows a part of the whole picture or so that the same picture is repeated on each screen.wall in
[PHRASAL VERB] usu passive, be V-ed P
If someone or something is walled in, they are surrounded or enclosed by a wall or barrier.
He is walled in by a mountain of papers in his cluttered Broadway office.