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wall

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A rampart of earth, stones etc.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

wawl
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈwɔl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A rampart of earth, stones etc. built up for defensive purposes.

  2. A structure built for defense surrounding a city, castle etc.

  3. Each of the substantial structures acting either as the exterior of or divisions within a structure.

  4. A point of defeat or extinction.

  5. A point of desperation.

  6. An impediment to free movement.

verb

  1. To enclose with, or as if with, a wall or walls.

  2. To well, as water; spring.

  3. To boil.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A rampart of earth, stones etc. built up for defensive purposes.

Used this way, wall is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use wall

  • “The south wall had a small window.”noun
  • “His back was to the wall.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Place

north wallsouth wall

Rampart

stone wall

Apparent

brick wall

Other combinations

cell wallabdominal wallchest wallouter wall

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • wallynounDerived noun

    A silly and inept person.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • wall-paperernounCompound term

    A worker who papers walls.

  • wall barleynounCompound term

    European annual grass often found as a weed in waste ground especially along roadsides and hedgerows.

  • wall bracketnounCompound term

    A support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf).

  • wall clocknounCompound term

    A clock mounted on a wall.

  • wall creepernounCompound term

    Crimson-and-grey songbird that inhabits town walls and mountain cliffs of southern Eurasia and northern Africa.

  • wall fernnounCompound term

    Mat-forming lithophytic or terrestrial fern with creeping rootstocks and large pinnatifid fronds found throughout North America and Europe and Africa and east Asia.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • wallpapernounRelated term

    A decorative paper for the walls of rooms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: rampart of earth

rampartbulwarkpalisade

verb

Sense: to enclose with or or as if with

fence in

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.