Noun A stone wall marks off their property. the Great Wall of China the walls of the ancient city She hung posters on the walls of her room. This apartment building has thin walls, and you can hear everything your neighbors say. Muscles in the abdominal wall help protect organs. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Will Benson’s leaping catch against the wall in left field also robbed Kepler of extra bases in the eighth. Joe Noga, cleveland, 10 Sep. 2022 The focus could land on traveling the road back, building back his body from exhaustion at simply hitting a few balls against a wall.San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2022 The Imperial Valley’s south end, meanwhile, is home to a cluster of sprawling solar farms, some of them right up against the border wall. Sammy Rothstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2022 And now with the series returning to Wintrust Arena on Thursday night for a decisive Game 5, the Sky find themselves with their backs against the wall. Shakeia Taylor, Chicago Tribune, 8 Sep. 2022 When displayed against a wall or in a window, the union should be uppermost and to the flag's right and the observer's left. Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Sep. 2022 Throw the ball laterally against a wall or to a partner. Jen Murphy, WSJ, 3 Sep. 2022 One in progress, propped against the wall, looks like one of those IQ tests that calls for finding patterns among disparate elements. Nathan Heller, Vogue, 23 Aug. 2022 Lean them against the wall and fill the slots with mosses or succulents. Mariah Thomas, Good Housekeeping, 18 Aug. 2022
Verb
This little star does not wall itself off gravitationally, and information rides out on its light. George Musser, Scientific American, 17 Aug. 2022 But the salon also provides additional measures upon request, such as heavy cloth dividers between stations to wall off other guests, Voance’s owner, Rasheda Akter, told me. Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 7 July 2022 Four interlocked slabs that wall out the community, and two spacious plazas that invite it in. John King, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 June 2022 Russia has used the war in Ukraine to step up its effort to wall off its internet from the rest of the world, building what some have described as a digital Iron Curtain. Rishi Iyengar, CNN, 3 June 2022 Russia has attempted to wall off its internet from the world but appears to recognize the potential backlash from citizens for banning the most popular services. Rishi Iyengar, CNN, 3 June 2022 Whether used to wall off sleeping quarters in a loft or hung as art, considering clever room divider ideas can help energize a room. Marisa Martin, Good Housekeeping, 31 May 2022 Standard diagnoses often collapse what some scientists believe are different conditions into one, whereas other diagnoses wall off conditions that are perhaps not so different at all.New York Times, 9 May 2022 Rather than wall off such matters from state-court review, the Supreme Court could review state-court decisions that cross the line from interpreting state law to writing law.WSJ, 17 May 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
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 vǫlr staff — more at wale
Verb (2)
Middle English (Scots) wawlen, probably from Middle English wawil- (in wawil-eghed walleyed)
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a