to wall
- verb
- /wɔl/
- Max, I'm walling off detonation signals.
- a walled enclosure
- a walled city
- a walled garden
Now theoretically, yes, within a free society, individuals can wall themselves off from the social world.
- Now theoretically, yes, within a free society, individuals can wall themselves off from the social world.
Examples
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The city officials decided to walls off the entire market area for security reasons after the threat alert.
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Why did they wall it up again?
-
Why'd you wall them off?
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Walled himself up into retirement.
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The miners found shelter in the mountains by walling off natural overhangs and building freestanding stone cabins.
Academic text (2007) -
To protect the crops from animals, the farmer plans to walls off the fields with a sturdy fence.
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In an effort to enhance privacy, they decided to walls off their backyard with a tall wooden fence.
Synonyms
Surround something completely, often with a wall or fence
To put a barrier around land to mark or protect it
To build a barrier around something to keep people in or keep others out
To make a barrier of wood, metal, or wire around land to keep animals and people out
Surround an area with a fence to stop people from entering
Close an opening by building a wall across it
To surround an area with a barrier to keep others out
To enclose an area by putting up rails
To surround an area with bushes to make a living fence
To surround a place with strong wooden posts to protect it
To surround an area with a strong fence of wooden or metal posts for protection
To surround a place with walls or dirt banks to stop people leaving
Surround a place or person so they cannot move freely
Idioms
- Offensive
Do something with as much speed and effort as possible, without holding back
- Informal
In a situation with very few choices where you must try hard to survive or win
To try many times to do something without success and feel frustrated
To decide to start something difficult and not change your mind
Try many different ideas to find one that works
Phrasal Verbs
To reach a point where you cannot continue because you are very tired or stuck
- Jargon
To speak directly to the audience during a play or film to show the story is not real
Compounds
- Literature
The US financial industry, especially banks and investment firms in New York
- Specialized
A hard layer around the cells of plants, fungi, and some bacteria that gives support and protection
A small hidden restaurant or cafe that looks simple but serves very good food
- Specialized
The muscles and tissue at the front and sides of the belly that protect internal organs
- Jargon
An unwritten rule among police officers not to report a colleague's illegal actions to protect them from punishment
- Archaic
A holy stone wall in Jerusalem where Jewish people pray and put written prayers
- Jargon
A rule to keep people in different teams from sharing secret information to avoid conflicts of interest
A long stone wall built by the Romans in northern England to mark their northern border
- Specialized
A wall with two layers and a space between them to keep heat in and water out
A fern that grows on rocks or walls in shady places in North America and East Asia
A Roman wall across central Scotland that marks the northern border of Roman Britain
- Specialized
A part of a theatre that separates the stage from the audience and holds the stage opening
- Specialized
A circular strong wall built under a heavy structure to support its weight
A small plant with narrow leaves and tiny pink flowers that grows in cracks in walls
A plant that lives for two years or less and has groups of bright orange-yellow flowers at stem ends
- UK
A small wild grass that grows like a weed along roads and walls, with bristly seed heads
- Specialized
An electronic device fixed to a wall that controls lights, heating, or security
- Specialized
A small plant with long leaves and tiny pink flowers that grows in cracks on old walls and rocks
- UK
A small plant that grows along the ground or walls with thick leaves and bright yellow flowers
- US
A large camping shelter with four straight cloth walls that gives more room inside than a normal tent
How Enclosed
Surface Forms
Etymology
Wall as a verb comes from the same old English weall and Latin vallum, meaning to make a 'rampart' or enclosure. So to wall a town or place is to build a wall around it to protect or close it off.