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wall

n. countable
A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈwɔɫ// UK //wˈɔːl// wall Archaic Dialect General-service Slang

n. a solid structure made of brick, stone, or wood that encloses an area or supports a roof. You use walls to divide rooms or keep people out of a garden.

n. a continuous vertical structure of brick, stone, or other substantial material that serves to enclose, divide, or protect an area. Often functions as a load-bearing element in architecture or a defensive barrier in a landscape.


SIMPLE

He painted the bedroom wall a light shade of blue.

CONTEXTUAL

The garden is surrounded by a high stone wall to provide privacy from the busy street outside.

COMPLEX

Ancient cities were often defined by their defensive walls, which served both as a physical barrier against invaders and a symbolic boundary of the community's legal jurisdiction.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

Of various origins, principally from Old English wælisc etc. ("non-Germanic speaker, stranger") from Proto-Germanic walhaz (“foreigner, stranger”), the source of numerous other surnames such as Walsh and Wales and from Middle English wall, from Old English weall (“wall, dike, rampart”), from Proto-Germanic wallaz or wallą (“wall, rampart”), from Latin vallum (“wall, rampart, palisade”), from Proto-Indo-European wel- (“to turn, wind, roll”). Also from transcribed foreign surnames such as German Wahl and Swedish Wahlberg.

Etymology 2

See wall.

Etymology 3

Calque of Mandarin 壁宿 (Bìxiù).

Usage

Commonly used with prepositions like 'against' (leaning against the wall) or 'on' (hanging on the wall).

Idioms22 entries

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