stonewall

See also: Stonewall, stone-wall, and stone wall

English

WOTD – 28 June 2018

Pronunciation

A basset hound resting on a type of stonewall (sense 4) constructed using the dry-stone method

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /ˈstəʊnwɔːl/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /ˈstoʊnwɔl/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  Audio (GA):

  (file)

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /ˈstoʊnwɑl/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  Audio (AU):

  (file)

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Hyphenation: stone‧wall

Etymology 1

From Middle English stonwal, stōn-wal, stounwal (“wall made of stone”), from Old English stānweall, stān-weall, equivalent to stone +‎ wall. The alcoholic drink (sense 3) was perhaps named thus because its effect was as potent as running into a stone wall.

Noun

stonewall (plural stonewalls)

1. (idiomatic) An obstruction.
2. (idiomatic) A refusal to cooperate.
3. (idiomatic, historical) An alcoholic drink popular in colonial America, consisting of apple cider (or sometimes applejack) mixed with rum (or sometimes gin or whisky).
4. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Alternative form of stone wall (“wall made of stone”).

Translations

obstruction — see obstruction

refusal to cooperate

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

alcoholic drink

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

alternative form of stone wall — see stone wall

Verb

stonewall (third-person singular simple present stonewalls, present participle stonewalling, simple past and past participle stonewalled)

1. (transitive) To obstruct.
2. (intransitive, informal) To refuse to answer or cooperate, especially in supplying information.

   At the press conference, the Prime Minister appeared to be stonewalling when asked about tax increases.

Derived terms

• stonewaller
• stonewalling (noun)

Translations

to obstruct — see obstruct

to refuse to answer or cooperate

• French: bétonner (fr)
• German: abblocken (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: entorpecer (es), rehusarse a cooperar
• Tagalog: dedma

Etymology 2

Apparently a corruption of stone cold.

Adjective

stonewall (not comparable)

1. (British, idiomatic) Certain, definite.

Usage notes

The word is most often encountered in sports contexts in reference to refereeing decisions.

Synonyms

• stone cold

Translations

certain, definite

• Finnish: vuorenvarma
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}