stonewall
/ˈstoʊnwɔl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.99 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An obstruction.
noun
An alcoholic drink popular in colonial America, consisting of apple cider (or sometimes applejack) mixed with rum (or sometimes gin or whisky).
noun
Alternative form of stone wall (“wall made of stone”).
noun
Alternative letter-case form of stonewall (“alcoholic drink”).
Example Sentences
- "That was what was causing the Government to hesitate in bringing down the Bill. There would be so many amendments proposed, and so many stonewalls erected, that much time would be occupied, and, that being so, he felt he must go on with other business first."
- "[…] I suddenly realized that here was the opening I had been searching for and perhaps even the possibility of striking a great blow, a blow perhaps powerful enough to shatter her stonewall defence, be it sane or insane."
- "Our conversation took place in a sort of no-man's land of irregular French. M. Crèspy's patois and Midi twang battled for meaning against my stonewall classroom phrases."
- "If it was in order to use the word "stonewalling," I would say your stonewall has come to an end; but it is not in order. I would suggest that we bring the proceedings to an end decently, and if the obstruction is not to go on, then I think the proper thing for me to do is to move the ordinary motion, that the House do now adjourn, and let it go without any further talk."
- ""Okay," I said sarcastically, while inside wondering what she was picking up on. / "Anyway," she said, sensing my stonewall, "I was just checking out the Pine Needlers' Facebook Page again, and you guys are killing it. Killing it with kindness as they say.""
- "[W]e are at a loss to "calculate" the ingredients which enter into such mysterious compounds as "apple-jack," "white nose," "stonewall," chain-lightning," "railroad," "rattle-snake," "back-straightener," "corpse-reviver," "moral suasion," "bottomless-pit," "sabbath-calm," etc."
Etymology
From Middle English stonwal, stone wall, stanewalle (“wall made of stone”), from Old English stānweall (“stonewall”), 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: stonwal, stānweall
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈstoʊnwɔl/
- British English: /ˈstəʊnwɔːl/
Usage
- Transitive verb
- Informal
- British usage