Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

7 PHRASE [usu cont] If you say that you are banging your head against a wall , you are emphasizing that you are frustrated because someone is stopping you from making progress in something. [INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □  I appealed for help but felt I was always banging my head against a wall. □  I wondered if I was banging my head against a brick wall.

8 PHRASE If you have your back to the wall , you are in a very difficult situation and can see no way out of it. [INFORMAL ] □  Their threat to hire replacement workers has the union with its back to the wall.

9 PHRASE If you say that something or someone is driving you up the wall , you are emphasizing that they annoy and irritate you. [INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □  The heat is driving me up the wall. □  I sang in the bath and drove my parents up the wall.

10 PHRASE If a person or company goes to the wall , they lose all their money and their business fails. [INFORMAL ] □  Even quite big companies are going to the wall these days.

11a fly on the wall → see fly

12the writing is on the wall → see writing

▸  wall in PHRASAL VERB [usu passive] If someone or something is walled in , they are surrounded or enclosed by a wall or barrier. □ [be V -ed P ] He is walled in by a mountain of papers in his cluttered Broadway office.

wal|la|by /wɒ ləbi/ (wallabies ) N‑COUNT A wallaby is an animal similar to a small kangaroo. Wallabies live in Australia and New Guinea.

wall|covering /wɔː lkʌvər I ŋ/ (wallcoverings ) also wall covering N‑VAR A wallcovering is a material such as wallpaper that is used to decorate the walls on the inside of a building.

walled /wɔː ld/ ADJ If an area of land or a city is walled , it is surrounded or enclosed by a wall. □  …a walled rose garden.

wal|let /wɒ l I t/ (wallets ) N‑COUNT [oft poss N ] A wallet is a small flat folded case, usually made of leather or plastic, in which you can keep banknotes and credit cards.

wall|flower /wɔː lflaʊə ^r / (wallflowers )

1 N‑COUNT A wallflower is a plant that is grown in gardens and has sweet-smelling yellow, red, orange, or purple flowers.

2 N‑COUNT If you say that someone is a wallflower , you mean that they are shy and do not get involved in dancing or talking to people at social events.

wal|lop /wɒ ləp/ (wallops , walloping , walloped ) VERB If you wallop someone or something, you hit them very hard, often causing a dull sound. [INFORMAL ] □ [V n prep] Once, she walloped me over the head with a frying pan. ● N‑COUNT [usu sing] Wallop is also a noun. □  With one brutal wallop, Clarke flattened him.

wal|low /wɒ loʊ/ (wallows , wallowing , wallowed )

1 VERB If you say that someone is wallowing in an unpleasant situation, you are criticizing them for being deliberately unhappy. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V + in ] His tired mind continued to wallow in self-pity.

2 VERB If a person or animal wallows in water or mud, they lie or roll about in it slowly for pleasure. □ [V + in ] Never have I had such a good excuse for wallowing in deep warm baths.

wall|paper /wɔː lpe I pə ^r / (wallpapers , wallpapering , wallpapered )

1 N‑VAR Wallpaper is thick coloured or patterned paper that is used for covering and decorating the walls of rooms. □ [+ in ] …the wallpaper in the bedroom.

2 VERB If someone wallpapers a room, they cover the walls with wallpaper. □ [V n] We were going to wallpaper that room anyway.

3 N‑UNCOUNT Wallpaper is the background on a computer or phone screen. [COMPUTING ] □  … pre-installed wallpaper images.