wall up

phrasal verb

walled up; walling up; walls up
1
: to close off (an opening) by filling it with stone, brick, etc.
They walled up the doorway of the abandoned house.
2
: to keep (someone) as a prisoner in an enclosed space
He was walled up in the tower.

Examples of wall up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In the medieval church, women’s roles were limited – usually some form of enclosure and celibacy, such as becoming an anchoress walled up alone for life, or a nun in a classic convent. Joelle Rollo-Koster, The Conversation, 25 Feb. 2025 Those are devices that remain hidden at ground level, then are activated by water pressure during a flood and lift automatically to a 90° angle, like a drawbridge, providing a temporary wall up to 8 feet high to protect homes and other property. Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 20 Feb. 2025 Existing buildings with windows must be walled up or covered. Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, 23 Jan. 2025 The person who cleaned the corridor leading to the door of my cell could not speak to me because the door was walled up. Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 17 Jan. 2025 This belief puts walls up that keep other people further away from you, and with no good reason. Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Dec. 2024 The fact that Pascal still had a wall up worried Joan. Dana Rose Falcone, People.com, 24 Oct. 2024 Look east from the cemetery, to an adjacent field where cattle graze, birds sing and a brook babbles: This will become a 116-acre data center housing 2.2 million square feet of massive structures with concrete walls up to 70 feet high. Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 10 July 2024 Meanwhile, Wendy continues to keep the wall up with her relationship with Nneka, who asks for a one-on-one in addition to her invite to her packing/slumber party. Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Wall up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wall%20up. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.

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