Word: wall Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English wal, from Old English weall (“wall, dike, earthwork, rampart, dam, rocky shore, cliff”), from Proto-West Germanic *wall (“wall, rampart, entrenchment”), from Latin vallum (“wall, rampart, entrenchment, palisade”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”). Perhaps conflated with waw (“a wall within a house or dwelling, a room partition”), from Middle English wawe, from Old English wāg, wāh (“an interior wall, divider”), see waw. Cognate with North Frisian wal (“wall”), Saterland Frisian Waal (“wall, rampart, mound”), Dutch wal (“wall, rampart, embankment”), German Wall (“rampart, mound, embankment”), Swedish vall (“mound, wall, bank”). More at wallow, walk. Pronunciation: /wɔːl/, /woːl/, /wɔl/, /waːl/, /wɑl/ 1. A rampart of earth, stones etc. built up for defensive purposes. 2. A structure built for defense surrounding a city, castle etc. Example: The town wall was surrounded by a moat. Example: From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away. 3. Each of the substantial structures acting either as the exterior of or divisions within a structure. Example: We're adding another wall in this room during the remodeling. The wind blew against the walls of the tent. Example: […] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit. 4. A point of desperation. 5. A point of defeat or extinction. Example: They want Abramovich out for obvious reasons, including the optics, and they do not want to send Chelsea to the wall as they consider the club to be of cultural significance to the country. 6. An impediment to free movement. Example: A wall of police officers met the protesters before they reached the capitol steps. 7. The butterfly Lasiommata megera. Example: Researchers found that 15 of 17 species which commonly live on farmland – including the small tortoiseshell, small skipper and wall butterfly – show declines associated with increasing neonic use. 8. A barrier. Labels: in-compounds, often Example: a seawall; a firewall 9. Something with the apparent solidity, opacity, or dimensions of a building wall. Example: a wall of sound; a wall of water; a wall of smoke obscured their view of enemy forces 10. A means of defence or security. Labels: figuratively Example: I built a wall between myself and the bullies. 11. One of the vertical sides of a container. Example: The extraordinary thinness of the walls of these vases, which reminds us of the finest china, or even of Venetian glass 12. A dividing or containing structure in an organ or cavity. Example: There is definitely some sort of lump on the back wall of my throat (right side). Example: The epidermal cells of the capsule wall of Jubulopsis, with nodose "trigones" at the angles, are very reminiscent of what one finds in Frullania spp. 13. A fictional bidder used to increase the price at an auction. 14. A doctor who tries to admit as few patients as possible. Labels: US, slang 15. A line of defenders set up between an opposing free-kick taker and the goal. Example: Blackburn were the recipients of another dose of fortune when from another Thomas pass Odemwingie was brought down by Jones inside the penalty area, but referee Mark Clattenburg awarded a free-kick which Chris Brunt slammed into the wall. 16. Two or more blockers skating together so as to impede the opposing team. Example: It can also be used to maintain the presence of a wall when one of the blockers who makes up the wall is picked off by an opposing blocker attempting to shut down the wall. 17. Any of the surfaces of rock enclosing the lode. 18. A personal notice board listing messages of interest to a particular user. Labels: Internet 19. A character that has high defenses, thereby reducing the amount of damage taken from the opponent’s attacks. 20. Face-down tiles arranged in stacked rows from which players draw new tiles. 21. The stage of biological aging where physical appearance and attractiveness start to deteriorate rapidly. Labels: definite, slang Example: Depreciation of assets happens. Prepare yourself Marla. Get ready for the wall. Example: At what age would you peg the 'wall' to be for men, on or thereabouts? 22. The right or privilege of taking the side of the road near the wall when encountering another pedestrian; said to be taken or given. Labels: historical Example: He related to me the following minute anecdote of this period: 'In the last age, when my mother lived in London, there were two sets of people, those who gave the wall, and those who took it; the peaceable and the quarrelsome. […] Now it is fixed that every man keeps to the right; or, if one is taking the wall, another yields it; and it is never a dispute.' Example: All persons, in walking the streets, whose right sides are next the wall, are intitled to take the wall. 23. A very steep slope.