[wawl] Pronunciation Key | 1. | any of various permanent upright constructions having a length much greater than the thickness and presenting a continuous surface except where pierced by doors, windows, etc.: used for shelter, protection, or privacy, or to subdivide interior space, to support floors, roofs, or the like, to retain earth, to fence in an area, etc. |
| 2. | Usually, walls. a rampart raised for defensive purposes. |
| 3. | an immaterial or intangible barrier, obstruction, etc., suggesting a wall: a wall of prejudice. |
| 4. | a wall-like, enclosing part, thing, mass, etc.: a wall of fire; a wall of troops. |
| 5. | an embankment to prevent flooding, as a levee or sea wall. |
| 6. | the Wall. Berlin Wall. |
| 7. | the outermost film or layer of structural material protecting, surrounding, and defining the physical limits of an object: the wall of a blood cell. |
| 8. | Mining.
|
| 9. | of or pertaining to a wall: wall space. |
| 10. | growing against or on a wall: wall plants; wall cress. |
| 11. | situated, placed, or installed in or on a wall: wall oven; a wall safe. |
| 12. | to enclose, shut off, divide, protect, border, etc., with or as if with a wall (often fol. by in or off): to wall the yard; to wall in the play area; He is walled in by lack of opportunity. |
| 13. | to seal or fill (a doorway or other opening) with a wall: to wall an unused entrance. |
| 14. | to seal or entomb (something or someone) within a wall (usually fol. by up): The workmen had walled up the cat quite by mistake. |
| 15. | climb the walls or climb walls, Slang. to become tense or frantic: climbing the walls with boredom. |
| 16. | drive or push to the wall, to force into a desperate situation; humiliate or ruin completely: Not content with merely winning the match, they used every opportunity to push the inferior team to the wall. |
| 17. | go over the wall, Slang. to break out of prison: Roadblocks have been set up in an effort to capture several convicts who went over the wall. |
| 18. | go to the wall,
|
| 19. | hit the wall, (of long-distance runners) to reach a point in a race, usually after 20 miles, when the body's fuels are virtually depleted and willpower becomes crucial to be able to finish. |
| 20. | off the wall, Slang.
|
| 21. | up against the wall,
|
| 22. | up the wall, Slang. into an acutely frantic, frustrated, or irritated state: The constant tension in the office is driving everyone up the wall. |
] —Related forms
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
| wall
(wôl) Pronunciation Key
n.
tr.v. walled, wall·ing, walls
[Middle English, from Old English weall, from Latin vallum, palisade, from vallus, stake.] wall'less adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
wall
| wall | |
noun | |
| 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" |
| 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] |
verb | |
| 1. | surround with a wall in order to fortify |
wall
In addition to the idioms beginning with wall, also see back to the wall; beat one's head against the wall; between you and me and the lamppost (four walls); climb the walls; drive someone crazy (up the wall); fly on the wall; go to the wall; handwriting on the wall; hole in the wall; off the wall; run into a stone wall.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
wall (wôl)
n.
An investing part enclosing a cavity, chamber, or other anatomical unit.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Main Entry: wall
Pronunciation: 'wol
Function: noun
: a structural layer surrounding a cavity, hollow organ, or mass of material
wall
Unix's "write all" command which sends a message to everyone currently logged in.
[The Jargon File]
wall
interj. [WPI]1. An indication of confusion, usually spoken with a quizzical tone: "Wall??"
2. A request for further explication. Compare octal forty.
3. [Unix, from `write all'] v. To send a message to everyone currently logged in, esp. with the wall(8) utility.
It is said that sense 1 came from the idiom `like talking to a blank wall'. It was originally used in situations where, after you had carefully answered a question, the questioner stared at you blankly, clearly having understood nothing that was explained. You would then throw out a "Hello, wall?" to elicit some sort of response from the questioner. Later, confused questioners began voicing "Wall?" themselves.
Wall Lake, IA (city, FIPS 82020) Location: 42.26955 N, 95.09297 W
Population (1990): 875 (354 housing units)
Area: 2.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 51466
Wall, NJ Zip code(s): 07719
Wall, PA (borough, FIPS 80600) Location: 40.39317 N, 79.78509 W
Population (1990): 853 (368 housing units)
Area: 1.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 15148
Wall, SD (town, FIPS 68380) Location: 43.99157 N, 102.23913 W
Population (1990): 834 (421 housing units)
Area: 4.5 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 57790
Wall, TX Zip code(s): 76957
Wall
In"ter*val\, n. [L. intervallum; inter between + vallum a wall: cf. F. intervalle. See Wall.]1. A space between things; a void space intervening between any two objects; as, an interval between two houses or hills. 'Twixt host and host but narrow space was left, A dreadful interval. --Milton. 2. Space of time between any two points or events; as, the interval between the death of Charles I. of England, and the accession of Charles II. 3. A brief space of time between the recurrence of similar conditions or states; as, the interval between paroxysms of pain; intervals of sanity or delirium. 4. (Mus.) Difference in pitch between any two tones. At intervals, coming or happening with intervals between; now and then. "And Miriam watch'd and dozed at intervals." --Tennyson. Augmented interval (Mus.), an interval increased by half a step or half a tone.Wall
Tent"wort`\, n. (Bot.) A kind of small fern, the wall rue. See under Wall.Wall
Val*la"tion\, n. [L. vallatio, fr. vallare to surround with a rampart, fr. vallum rampart. See Wall, n.] A rampart or intrenchment.Wall
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.)
wall
wall: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary
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