Wall

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Wall, n. 

 A kind of knot often used at the end of a rope; a wall knot; a wale.  [1913 Webster]

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.

Wall, n. [AS. weall, from L. vallum a wall, vallus a stake, pale, palisade; akin to Gr. a nail. Cf. Interval.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "The plaster of the wall of the King's palace."  [1913 Webster]
•  A defense; a rampart; a means of protection; in the plural, fortifications, in general; works for defense.  [1913 Webster]

  "The waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left."  [1913 Webster]

  "In such a night,
  Troilus, methinks, mounted the Troyan walls."  [1913 Webster]

  "To rush undaunted to defend the walls."  [1913 Webster]
•  An inclosing part of a receptacle or vessel; as, the walls of a steam-engine cylinder.  [1913 Webster]
•  The side of a level or drift.  Raymond.  [1913 Webster]

  " 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."  [1913 Webster]

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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), a common European solitary wasp (Odynerus parietus) which makes its nest in the crevices of walls.

Wall, v. t. 

•  To inclose with a wall, or as with a wall.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "The king of Thebes, Amphion,
  That with his singing walled that city."  [1913 Webster]
•  To defend by walls, or as if by walls; to fortify.  [1913 Webster]

  "The terror of his name that walls us in."  [1913 Webster]
•  To close or fill with a wall, as a doorway.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Wall, 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).

Idiom

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).

Derivative

walling n. wall-less adj.

Etymology

OE f. L vallum rampart f. vallus stake

THESAURUS

Wall

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Wall

Refuge

N refuge, sanctuary, retreat, fastness, acropolis, keep, last resort, ward, prison, asylum, ark, home, refuge for the destitute, almshouse, hiding place, sanctum sanctorum, roadstead, anchorage, breakwater, mole, port, haven, harbor, harbor of refuge, seaport, pier, jetty, embankment, quay, covert, cover, shelter, screen, lee wall, wing, shield, umbrella, barrier, dashboard, dasher, wall, fort, anchor, kedge, grapnel, grappling iron, sheet anchor, killick, mainstay, support, cheek, ballast, jury mast, vent-peg, safety valve, blow-off valve, safety lamp, lightning rod, lightning conductor, safety belt, airbag, seat belt, antilock brakes, antiskid tires, snow tires, means of escape, lifeboat, lifejacket, life buoy, swimming belt, cork jacket, parachute, plank, steppingstone, emergency landing, safeguard, any port in a storm, bibere venenum in auro, valet anchora virtus.

Hindrance

N hindrance, prevention, preclusion, obstruction, stoppage, embolus, embolism, infarct, interruption, interception, interclusion, hindrance, impedition, retardment, retardation, embarrassment, oppilation, coarctation, stricture, restriction, restraint, inhibition, blockade, interference, interposition, obtrusion, discouragement, discountenance, impediment, let, obstacle, obstruction, knot, knag, check, hitch, contretemps, screw loose, grit in the oil, bar, stile, barrier, turnstile, turnpike, gate, portcullis, beaver dam, trocha, barricade, wall, dead wall, sea wall, levee breakwater, groyne, bulkhead, block, buffer, stopper, boom, dam, weir, burrock, drawback, objection, stumbling-block, stumbling-stone, lion in the path, snag, snags and sawyers, encumbrance, incumbrance, clog, skid, shoe, spoke, drag, drag chain, drag weight, stay, stop, preventive, prophylactic, load, burden, fardel, onus, millstone round one's neck, impedimenta, dead weight, lumber, pack, nightmare, Ephialtes, incubus, old man of the sea, remora, difficulty, insuperable, obstacle, estoppel, ill wind, head wind, trammel, tether, hold back, counterpoise, damper, wet blanket, hinderer, marplot, killjoy, party pooper, party crasher, interloper, trail of a red herring, opponent, hindering, obstructive, obstruent, impeditive, impedient, intercipient, prophylactic, impedimentary, in the way of, unfavorable, onerous, burdensome, cumbrous, cumbersome, obtrusive, hindered, windbound, waterlogged, heavy laden, hard pressed, unassisted &c (assist), single-handed, alone, deserted, occurrent nubes.

Prison

N prison, prison house, jail, gaol, cage, coop, den, cell, stronghold, fortress, keep, donjon, dungeon, Bastille, oubliette, bridewell, house of correction, hulks, tollbooth, panopticon, penitentiary, guardroom, lockup, hold, round house, watch house, station house, sponging house, station, house of detention, black hole, pen, fold, pound, inclosure, isolation (exclusion), penal settlement, penal colony, bilboes, stocks, limbo, quod, calaboose, chauki, choky, thana, workhouse, Newgate, Fleet, Marshalsea, King's Bench, Queen's Bench, bond, bandage, irons, pinion, gyve, fetter, shackle, trammel, manacle, handcuff, straight jacket, strait jacket, strait-jacket, strait-waistcoat, hopples, vice, vise, yoke, collar, halter, harness, muzzle, gag, bit, brake, curb, snaffle, bridle, rein, reins, bearing rein, martingale, leading string, tether, picket, band, guy, chain, cord, cavesson, hackamore, headstall, jaquima, lines, ribbons, bolt, deadbolt, bar, lock, police lock, combination lock, padlock, rail, wall, stone wall, paling, palisade, fence, picket fence, barbed wire fence, Cyclone fence, stockade fence, chain-link fence, barrier, barricade, drag.

Verticality

N verticality, erectness, perpendicularity, right angle, normal, azimuth circle, wall, precipice, cliff, elevation, erection, square, plumb line, plummet, vertical, upright, erect, perpendicular, plumb, normal, straight, bolt, upright, rampant, standing up, rectangular, orthogonal, vertically, up, on end, up on end, right on end, a plomb, endwise, one one's legs, at right angles.

Lining

N lining, inner coating, coating, stalactite, stalagmite, filling, stuffing, wadding, padding, wainscot, parietes, wall, lined.

Inclosure

N inclosure, envelope, case, wrapper, girdle, pen, fold, pen fold, in fold, sheep fold, paddock, pound, corral, yard, net, seine net, wall, hedge, hedge row, espalier, fence, pale, paling, balustrade, rail, railing, quickset hedge, park paling, circumvallation, enceinte, ring fence, barrier, barricade, gate, gateway, bent, dingle, door, hatch, cordon, prison, dike, dyke, ditch, fosse, moat.