wall of silence
3
7.2
- noun
- /wɔl əv ˈsaɪləns/
- Literature
:
muro de silencio
- I don’t believe the present government of Turkey has any intention of confronting the wall of silence, past or present.
- break through the wall of silence
Examples
-
It was my feeble attempt to shatter the wall of silence, but to the extent it had any impact at all, it shifted attention from the situation in Gaza to the appropriateness of the comparison.
Blog text (19) -
She broke the wall of silence that anarchists in the northwest had tried their best to craft for about four months.
Blog text (1) -
At that point, none of his victims had broken through the wall of silence.
Blog text (32) -
All the more precious are the rare moments when the latter do break through the wall of silence.
Academic text (2007) -
Chris Hayes told the truth today, blowing one more hole in the wall of silence on these issues.
Blog text (24) -
When the wall of silence comes tumbling down and Leah offers no explanation, it must only reinforce that opinion.
Blog text (1) -
To tackle the problem, Western countries and human rights organizations need to continue to break down the wall of silence and autocracy that blights the Arab Middle East and better promote the notion of individual rights.
Academic text (2007) -
Patrick Watt, corporate director at Bupa, said: "Despite business leaders recognizing the importance of addressing mental health at work, there is still a long way to go to break down the wall of silence and create genuine change."
Academic text (2014) -
The investigation was hindered by a wall of silence from the police officers involved.
-
Witnesses reported a wall of silence within the organization, making it difficult to gather information.
Synonyms
3
8.1
An agreement to stay silent to hide something wrong
2
9.5
An unwritten rule among police officers not to report a colleague's illegal actions to protect them from punishment
1
9.0
A secret rule among police not to report a colleague's wrongdoing
1
9.9
A rule not to tell people outside about crimes in a gang
An agreement between people not to speak about something
Antonyms
How Silent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'wall' (a barrier) + 'silence' (withholding speech): together they form the image of a barrier of silence, i.e. a collective refusal to speak. This metaphorical 'wall of X' pattern is common in other languages and follows a transparent compositional logic that a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer.
Etymology
Wall of silence gives a clear picture: a tall wall that blocks sound so the place is quiet and nothing gets through. That's why it means a group's agreement to 'not speak' or to hide information to 'protect' its members.