wall

/wɔl/
/wɔl/
IPA guide

Other forms: walls; walled; walling

Definitions of wall
  1. noun
    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”
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    examples:
    Wailing Wall
    a wall in Jerusalem; sacred to Jews as a place of prayer and lamentation; its stones are believed to have formed part of the Temple of Solomon
    Hadrian's Wall
    an ancient Roman wall built by Hadrian in the 2nd century; marked the northern boundary of the Roman Empire in Britain
    types:
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    attic
    (architecture) a low wall at the top of the entablature; hides the roof
    bearing wall
    any wall supporting a floor or the roof of a building
    cavity wall
    a wall formed of two thicknesses of masonry with a space between them
    chimney breast
    walls that project out from the wall of a room and surround the chimney base
    firewall
    a fireproof (or fire-resistant) wall designed to prevent the spread of fire through a building or a vehicle
    gable, gable end, gable wall
    the vertical triangular wall between the sloping ends of a gable roof
    parapet
    a low wall along the edge of a roof or balcony
    proscenium, proscenium wall
    the wall that separates the stage from the auditorium in a modern theater
    sidewall
    a wall that forms the side of a structure
    wainscoting, wainscotting
    a wainscoted wall (or wainscoted walls collectively)
    bell gable
    an extension of a gable that serves as a bell cote
    corbie gable
    (architecture) a gable having corbie-steps or corbel steps
    pediment
    a triangular gable between a horizontal entablature and a sloping roof
    type of:
    divider, partition
    a vertical structure that divides or separates (as a wall divides one room from another)
  2. noun
    a vertical (or almost vertical) smooth rock face (as of a cave or mountain)
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    type of:
    formation, geological formation
    (geology) the geological features of the earth
  3. noun
    a layer of material that encloses space
    “the walls of the cylinder were perforated”
    “the container's walls were blue”
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    type of:
    bed, layer
    single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance
  4. noun
    a masonry fence (as around an estate or garden)
    “the wall followed the road”
    “he ducked behind the garden wall and waited”
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    types:
    party wall
    a wall erected on the line between two properties and shared by both owners
    retaining wall
    a wall that is built to resist lateral pressure (especially a wall built to prevent the advance of a mass of earth)
    type of:
    fence, fencing
    a barrier that serves to enclose an area
  5. noun
    an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes
    “they blew the trumpet and the walls came tumbling down”
    synonyms: bulwark, rampart
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    examples:
    Antonine Wall
    a fortification 37 miles long across the narrowest part of southern Scotland (between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde); built in 140 to mark the frontier of the Roman province of Britain
    Great Wall of China
    a fortification 1,500 miles long built across northern China in the 3rd century BC; it averages 6 meters in width
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    bailey
    the outer defensive wall that surrounds the outer courtyard of a castle
    battlement, crenelation, crenellation
    (architecture) a rampart built around the top of a castle, city wall, or other structure, with regular gaps for firing weapons
    earthwork
    an earthen rampart
    fraise
    sloping or horizontal rampart of pointed stakes
    merlon
    a solid section between two crenels in a crenelated battlement
    sconce
    a small fort or earthwork defending a ford, pass, or castle gate
    type of:
    embankment
    a long artificial mound of stone or earth; built to hold back water or to support a road or as protection
  6. noun
    (anatomy) a layer (a lining or membrane) that encloses a structure
    “stomach walls”
    synonyms: paries
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    types:
    abdominal wall
    a wall of the abdomen
    type of:
    stratum
    one of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock)
  7. noun
    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”
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    types:
    footwall
    the lower wall of an inclined fault
    hanging wall
    the upper wall of an inclined fault
    type of:
    object, physical object
    a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow
  8. noun
    a difficult or awkward situation
    “his back was to the wall”
    “competition was pushing them to the wall”
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    type of:
    difficulty
    a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome
  9. verb
    surround with a wall in order to fortify
    synonyms: fence, fence in, palisade, surround
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    types:
    stockade
    surround with a stockade in order to fortify
    circumvallate
    surround with or as if with a rampart or other fortification
    type of:
    protect, secure
    shield from danger, injury, destruction, or damage
Pronunciation
US
/wɔl/
UK
/wɔl/
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