wall

SayWAWL/wɔl//wɔːl/

Pluralwalls

Verbwalls, walling, walled

28 meanings of wall

Practice

1
building sidenouncountable
A solid side of a building or room, going from floor to ceiling.
Like the sides of a box that hold everything together.
They painted the living room wall bright yellow.
The kids hung their drawings on the bedroom wall.
UsageA picture is on the wall. A window is in the wall.
2
barriernouncountablein compounds
Something that blocks the way or keeps two areas apart.
The thick hedge formed a wall between the two yards.
The kids climbed over the old stone wall into the field.
Similarbarrier, cordon, fence, screen
Note
3
nouncountable
A thick, strong wall of stone or earth built around a town, castle, or fort to protect it from attack.
Like a giant stone fence built around a whole town.
Soldiers stood guard along the city wall.
The castle wall was too high for the attackers to climb.
UsageSay the city walls.
Similarrampart, fortification, bulwark
4
nouncountable
The side or outer layer around the inside of something hollow, like a box, a body part, or a cell.
Like the side of a balloon holding the air inside.
The doctor checked the wall of the patient's stomach.
A plant cell has a stiff wall around it.
UsageSay the wall of the stomach, or cell wall.
Note
5
verbtransitive
To close something off by putting a wall around it.
They decided to wall the garden to keep the deer out.
Workers walled off the damaged section of the building.
UsageSay wall off a room, or a walled city.
Similarenclose, surround, fence, fortify
6
nouncountable
Something so thick, tall, or solid that it seems like a building's side.
A wall of water rushed down the narrow valley.
We hit a wall of heat the moment we stepped outside.
UsageSay a wall of water or a wall of noise.
Similarsheet, curtain, mass

Less common meanings

7
breaking pointnouncountable
The moment when you feel you cannot go on anymore.
Like running until your legs simply will not move.
Halfway through the marathon, she hit the wall.
After four hours of studying, I hit a wall and couldn't read another page.
UsageSay you hit a wall when you can't go on.
8
profile pagenouncountable
A page on a social website where messages for one person show up.
She posted a birthday message on her friend's wall.
Photos from the party filled his wall the next day.
UsageSay write on her wall.
Similartimeline
Note
9
nouncountable
A row of players who stand together to block a free kick.
Like a row of friends standing close to block a ball.
The players formed a wall to stop the free kick.
His shot curved over the wall and into the net.
UsageSay the ball went over the wall.
Note
10
steep climbnouncountable
A very steep part of a hill that is hard to ride up.
Like a hill so steep it feels almost straight up.
The final wall left the riders gasping for breath.
He stood on the pedals to get up the wall.
Similarclimb, ascent, incline
Note
11
ruinnoun
The point where someone is completely beaten or ruined.
Many small shops went to the wall when the big store opened.
Years of drought pushed the family farm to the wall.
UsageSay a company went to the wall.
Note
12
fading looksnounslangdefinite
The point in life when a person's looks and appeal begin to fade quickly.
Like a fruit that stays fresh for a while, then quickly goes bad.
Some people fear that they will reach the wall and lose their looks overnight.
He joked that his looks hit the wall the year he turned forty.
UsagePeople say hit the wall. It is unkind; don't use it.
Note
13
miningnouncountable
In mining, the rock surface on either side of a vein of ore.
Like the sides of a trench that hold back the dirt around it.
The silver vein ran between two walls of hard granite.
Miners call the rock just above a vein the hanging wall.
Note
14
verbobsoleteintransitive
To boil, or to bubble up the way hot water does.
Similarboil, bubble, seethe
Note
15
noun
In roller derby, a group of blockers who skate close together to stop the other team.
16
noun
In a game, a character built with very strong defenses that takes little damage from enemy attacks.
17
noun
A pretend bidder at an auction, used to push the price higher.
18
nounslangUS
In hospital slang, a doctor who tries to admit as few patients as possible.
19
noun
In mahjong, the rows of face-down tiles that players draw from during the game.
20
verbslang
In video games, to cheat by using a tool that lets you see enemies through walls.
21
verbslang
In shooter games, to shoot an enemy through a wall or other surface.
22
noun
Long ago, the right to walk on the safer side of the street, next to the wall, when passing someone.
All persons, in walking the streets, whose right sides are next the wall, are intitled to take the wall.
1822, The PamphleteerHere, take the wall means claim the right to walk next to the wall.
23
noun
In sailing, a knot tied at the end of a rope to keep it from slipping through.
24
verb
In sailing, to tie a special stopper knot at the end of a rope.
25
noun
A brown-and-orange butterfly often seen resting on walls and sunny stones.
26
noundialectal
In some dialects, a spring where water comes up out of the ground.
27
verb
Of water, to bubble up from under the ground.
28
interjectionUS
A way of writing "well" to show how some people say it.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of wall apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–13

From Old English weall, meaning a wall or rampart, which came from Latin vallum ("wall, rampart").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Wall derives from Old English weall, meaning a wall or rampart. en.wiktionary.org
The word ultimately comes from Latin vallum, meaning wall or rampart. en.wikipedia.org

Meaning 14

From Old English weallan, meaning "to bubble or boil."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

The verb wall derives from Old English weallan. en.wiktionary.org
Old English weallan means to bubble or boil. en.wiktionary.org