Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

headwall

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.55 in modern English

Syllables: head-wall
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The highest cliff of a glacial cirque.

noun

The steep cliff at the back of a cirque.

noun

A retaining wall at the outlet of a drain, culvert or tunnel.

Example Sentences

"The platforms of all stations from Shepherds Bush to Liverpool Street have been lengthened from 325 ft. to 427 ft. between tunnel headwalls, to take longer trains."
"HS2 Ltd has built a 17-metre-high headwall and reinforced the ground at what will become the south portal of the ten-mile Chiltern Tunnel, as part of preparations for the arrival next year of tunnel boring machines (TBMs)."

Etymology

From head + wall.

Inflected Forms

headwalls (plural)

Synonyms

endwall

Questions

What does headwall mean?: The highest cliff of a glacial cirque.
Where does headwall come from?: From head + wall.

How to pronounce headwall

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “headwall”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “headwall”.
Repeat and practice — Say “headwall” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.