Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: BUILDINGS

Language: Old English
Origin: weall

wall

1 noun
     
wall1 S1 W1 [countable]
1

around an area

DHTBB 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.
2DHH

in a building

one of the sides of a room or building
on the wall
I put some pictures up on the walls.
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 British English
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

informalDS 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 (31)

; ➔ like talking to a brick wall

at talk1 (15)

; ➔ the writing is on the wall

at writing (8), off-the-wall
Definition of wall from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic BUILDINGS
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