(a) An upright enclosing structure, usu. constructed of stone, brick, etc., serving to bound or demarcate the limits of a town, castle with its outbuildings, monastery, etc.; also, a high, relatively thick wall, usu. of stone or masonry and freq. provided with battlements, towers, etc., serving as a defensive fortification or protection for a city, castle, nation, etc.; to the ~ ward, toward the wall; (b) the flat, protected upper surface of a thick castle or city wall, esp. as a place for observation, walking, taking one’s ease, performing guard duty, etc.; also, the top of such a wall used as a conspicuous site for proclamation, the display of an object, the carrying out of executions, etc.; (c) a defensive or protective earthwork, a rampart; (d) a free-standing wall, freq. of masonry or wood, enclosing a plot of ground, pond, churchyard, farmhouse, etc. and serving as a boundary or protective barrier, a fence, palisade; also, a wall bordering a road or path; ?also [quot. ?a1425], the retaining wall or closed-in side of a bridge;—used fig.; (e) an embankment to prevent the overflow of a body of water, a levee, dike; (f) a wall-like natural formation or phenomenon, an enclosing or encircling wall (of fire or ice); (g) fig. a person regarded as the chief protector or defender of a person or city; the sea perceived as a protector of England; something, an action, etc. regarded as a spiritual defender or protector; ben in stede of a ~, of a king’s strength: to serve as a defense (for sb.); (h) in generalizing phrases: in wei or ~, inwith (within) ~, anywhere at all; (i) in conventional comparisons.

(a) A wall of unspecified function; also in conventional comparisons; pissere to the ~, a male, man; (b) a chink, crevice, or interstice in a wall; a niche or hole in a wall; (c) a fallen wall, the remains of a wall, a ruin; (d) fig. in Biblical usage: ~ made whit, ~ whited, whited ~, a hypocrite.

(a) A wall presented as a barrier, an obstacle, an impediment to progress, etc.; also fig.; something functioning as or analogous to such a wall, that which is a barrier to moral or spiritual good; also, something indurate or unyielding; (b) in proverbs, prov. expressions, and conventional comparisons.

A wall presented as that which is strong, sturdy, secure, constant, steadfast, etc.;—freq. in proverbs and conventional comparisons; also, a wall regarded as something insensate [2nd quot.]; fig. one who is a source of strength or reliable support [quot. ?a1450].

(a) A wall, internal or external, of a discrete structure, house, church, etc.; a partition forming a chamber, the wall of a room, cell, etc.; also, by synechdoche, a chamber, house, hall, etc.; also fig.; ?a beam or panel [quot. 1378]; in (in-to, within) ~, within walles, in (into, within) a dwelling, within walls; indoors, inside; in (within) a wormes ~, in the worm’s domain; withouten ~, out in the open, outdoors; biloke in ~, confined, imprisoned; leide bi the ~, of a corpse: laid out for burial; (b) the surface of an internal wall.

In cpds. and combs.: (a) ~ fair, q.v.; ~ lode, ?a quantity of building materials; ?a service of carrying such materials; ~ makere, a builder of walls, ?a mason; ~ nail, coll. nails used in the construction of a wall or partition; ~ plate, arch. a horizontal timber set atop a wall to support rafters; ~ reve, ?an officer of a town or manor responsible for overseeing the construction and upkeep of walls, dikes, etc.; ~ side, ?the side of a wall; ?a wall constructed so as to form or provide steps from one level to another; ~ ston [OE weall-stān], a stone used in the construction of a wall;—also coll.; ~ tile, a brick or masonry tile for a wall;—also coll.; also, ?decorated wall tile used for flooring [quot. 1368]; ~ toth, a molar; (b) brike (mudde) ~, a wall made of brick (clay); burgh ~ [OE burh-weall], chirche-yerd (cite, gardin, rome, toun) ~, a wall surrounding a city or town, a churchyard, etc. [see also toun n. 2.(b)]; castel ~ [OE castel-weall], a castle wall; also, the wall of a city or town [see also castel n. 1b.(a)]; chirche (hous, palais, tour) ~, the wall of a church (house, etc.); erthe ~, a dike of earth around a garden plot; fore ~, q.v.; gable ~, the end wall surmounted by a gable, a gable end; ground ~ [OE grund-weall], the foundation of a building; also, a course of stones serving as part of the foundation of a wall; also fig. [see also ground n. 15.(c)]; roche ~, ?the vertical face of a cliff or large rock mass; se ~ [OE sǣ-weall], se brinke ~, a sea wall, dike; shide ~ [OE scīd-weall], a board fence; side ~, a wall forming the side of a structure, a side wall; ston ~, q.v.

Anat. A bodily structure analogous to an enclosing or internal wall, the enclosing tissues or membranes of a body cavity, an organ, a wound, etc.; a physical boundary or dividing structure within a body or bodily member.

(a) In surnames; (b) in names of certain churches at Rome; (c) in place names and street names [see Smith PNElem. 2.244].