wall

wall¹ W1S1 [wo:l US wo:l] n

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1¦(around an area)¦

2¦(in a building)¦

3¦(body)¦

4 wall of fire/water etc

5 wall of silence/secrecy

6 up the wall

7 off the wall

8 go to the wall

9 these four walls

10 be/come up against a (brick) wall

11 be climbing/crawling (up) the walls

12 walls have ears

13 hit the wall

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[: Old English; Origin: weall]

1.) ¦(AROUND AN AREA)¦

an upright flat structure made of stone or brick, that divides one area from another or surrounds an area

→↑fence

stone/brick/concrete wall

▪ The estate is surrounded by high stone walls.

city/garden etc wall

▪ the ancient city walls

▪ the Great Wall of China

▪ We climbed over the wall into the orchard.

2.) ¦(IN A BUILDING)¦

one of the sides of a room or building

on the wall

▪ I put some pictures up on the walls .

▪ Bob leaned against the wall .

bedroom/kitchen etc wall

▪ We decided to paint the bathroom walls blue.

3.) ¦(BODY)¦

the side of something hollow, especially within the body

▪ The walls of the blood vessels had been damaged.

▪ cell walls

4.) wall of fire/water etc

a tall mass of something such as fire or water, that stops anything from getting past

▪ The boat was hit by a wall of water.

5.) wall of silence/secrecy

a situation in which nobody will tell you what you want to know

▪ The police investigation was met with a wall of silence.

6.) up the wall

spoken very angry or annoyed

▪ That noise is driving me up the wall (=making me annoyed) .

go up the wall BrE

▪ I've got to be on time or Sarah will go up the wall.

7.) off the wall informal

very strange or unusual, often in an amusing way

▪ Some of Krista's ideas are a little off the wall.

8.) go to the wall informal

if a company goes to the wall, it fails, especially because of financial difficulties

▪ Many small investors will go to the wall.

9.) these four walls

spoken the room that you are in, especially considered as a private place

▪ I don't want anything repeated outside these four walls.

10.) be/come up against a (brick) wall

to reach a point where you cannot make progress, especially because something or someone is stopping you

▪ We seem to have come up against a brick wall in this investigation.

11.) be climbing/crawling (up) the walls informal

to be feeling extremely anxious, unhappy, or annoyed, especially because you are waiting for something or are in a situation which you cannot get away from

▪ The kids soon had him climbing the walls.

12.) walls have ears

used to warn people to be careful what they say, because other people, especially enemies, could be listening

13.) hit the wall informal

to reach the point when you are most physically tired when doing a sport

→have your back to/against the wall at ↑back² (21), be (like) banging your head against a brick wall at ↑head, like talking to a brick wall at ↑talk¹ (15), the writing is on the wall at ↑writing, ↑off-the-wall

wall ²

wall² v

wall in [wall sth<=>in] phr v

to surround an open area with walls

wall off [wall sth<=>off] phr v

to keep one area or room separate from another, by building a wall

▪ The control room is walled off by soundproof glass.

wall up [wall sb/sth<=>up] phr v

1.)

a) to fill in an entrance, window etc with bricks or stone

▪ The entrance had long since been walled up.

b) to fill in all the entrances and windows of a place so that someone cannot get out

2.) to keep someone as a prisoner in a building