Perhaps conflated withwaw(“a wall within a house or dwelling, a room partition”), fromMiddle Englishwawe, fromOld Englishwāg,wāh(“an interior wall, divider”), seewaw.
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.
[…] 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 hugewalls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.
Nanny Broome was looking up at the outerwall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime.
March 11 2022, David Hytner, “Chelsea are in crisis but there is no will to leave club on their knees”, inThe Guardian[1]:
They wantAbramovich out for obvious reasons, including the optics, and they do not want to send Chelsea to thewall as they consider the club to be of cultural significance to the country.
2015 November 24, Patrick Barkham, “Pesticide may be reason butterfly numbers are falling in UK, says study”, inThe Guardian[2]:
Researchers found that 15 of 17 species which commonly live on farmland – including the small tortoiseshell, small skipper andwall butterfly – show declines associated with increasing neonic use.
(often in combination) A barrier.
a seawall; a firewall
Something with the apparent solidity, opacity, or dimensions of a building wall.
awall of sound; awall of water; awall of smoke obscured their view of enemy forces
1982 April 24, Matthew Ross, “Personal advertisement”, inGay Community News, page15:
There is definitely some sort of lump on the backwall of my throat (right side).
1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster,The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.:Field Museum of Natural History,→ISBN, pages4-5:
The epidermal cells of the capsulewall ofJubulopsis, with nodose "trigones" at the angles, are very reminiscent of what one finds inFrullania spp.
A fictional bidder used to increase the price at an auction.
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 thewall.
(roller derby) Two or moreblockers skating together so as to impede the opposing team.
2013, Ellen Parnavelas,The Roller Derby Athlete, page48:
It can also be used to maintain the presence of awall when one of the blockers who makes up thewall is picked off by an opposing blocker attempting to shut down thewall.
1996 December 27, “The Definitive Answer to "Why Nice Guys Finish Last"”, inalt.romance[3] (Usenet):
Depreciation of assets happens. Prepare yourself Marla. Get ready forthe wall.
2001 February 2, “what a drag it is getting old”, insoc.singles[4] (Usenet):
At what age would you peg the 'wall' to be for men, on or thereabouts?
2001 June 19, “the laws of biomechanics”, insoc.singles[5] (Usenet):
I have never had a problem getting the attention of men. I'm 44 and there's nowall staring me in the face
2002 January 22, “towards a useful smv metric”, insoc.singles[6] (Usenet):
That was only six years later and Natasha is not nearthe wall yet
2015 July 20, “catcalls are bad”, inrec.sport.football.college[7] (Usenet):
As forthe wall....Im convinced part of this is just something us guys tell ourselves to 'get back'(in our minds) at all the girls who wouldn't sleep with us 5-10 years ago
(historical) Theright orprivilege of taking the side of the road near the wall when encountering anotherpedestrian;said to be taken or given.
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 thewall, 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 thewall, another yields it; and it is never a dispute.'
1822,The Pamphleteer, page118:
All persons, in walking the streets, whose right sides are next the wall, are intitled to take thewall.
2017, Catharina Löffler,Walking in the City, page135:
Taking thewall thus was also a social distinction. An entire episode in the second book is therefore dedicated “to whom to give thewall” and “to whom to refuse thewall” (II. 4564).
(rampart):terreplein(level walkway);parapet,crenellation(minor secondary wall protecting the terreplein);banquette(area elevated above the terreplein for use by defenders)
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Wall, they spoke up, 'n' says to her, s'd they, "Why, look a-here, aunty, Wus't his skin, 't was rock?" so s's she, "I guess not." (Well, they spoke up and says to her, said they, "Why look a-here, aunty, was it his skin that was rock [referring to the Apostle Peter]?" So says she, "I guess not.")
1988, Herbert M. Sutherland,Tall Tales of the Devil's Apron, The Overmountain Press,→ISBN, page97:
Wall, be that as it may, ol' Hosshead was a purty good citizen in his day, an' he shore did make Juneybell toe the mark.
