wall

Everyday

1. A wall is one of the sides of a room or building. tree →
2. A wall is also a fence of stone or brick around a garden, field or town. tree →
3. A wall can be a thing that stops you, like «a wall of water» or «hit a wall» (to get stuck). tree →
4. The wall of a body part is its outer layer, like the stomach wall. tree →

In the lessons

In school maths: area to paint or tile (length × height); length or height of a wall; things hung on each wall; a room with 4 walls. In everyday life: pictures and posters on the wall, a garden wall, a climbing wall. In history: city walls, the Great Wall of China, Hadrian's Wall. Phrases: «on the wall», «wall chart», «off the wall» (strange).

Examples

• The wall is 4 meters long and 3 meters high. tree →
• She painted 2 walls. tree →
• Each wall has 5 pictures. tree →
• A room has 4 walls. tree →
• We put our drawings on the classroom wall. tree →
• Hadrian's Wall was built by the Romans across northern England. tree →
• The cat jumped onto the garden wall. tree →
• Kids queued for the climbing wall at the fair. tree →
• The monkeys leaped higher up the walls. tree →

Note

Countable: «a wall», «walls». Things are «on» a wall (a picture on the wall), but «in» a wall (a hole in the wall). Maths: area of a wall = length × height; take away windows and doors. Pictures per wall is a rate. A room often hides the number 4. Safety: do not climb on high walls.

In Jewish tradition

In the Torah, a wall guards a city, and walls of a house can have plague.

Interpretation. The plague in a house's walls is a spiritual sign that the sages connect with wrongdoing such as gossip. Jericho's walls later fall.

Examples

• Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a fountain; its branches run over the wall. (Torah GEN.49.22, JPS 1917) tree →
• All these were fortified cities, with high walls, gates, and bars; beside the unwalled towns a great many. (Torah DEU.3.5, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look; and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house; (Torah LEV.14.39, JPS 1917) tree →
• Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. (Writings PSA.122.7, JPS 1917) tree →
• And upon every lofty tower, and upon every fortified wall; (Prophets ISA.2.15, JPS 1917) tree →
• Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. (Prophets EZK.12.5, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable: «a wall», «walls». Things are «on» a wall (a picture on the wall), but «in» a wall (a hole in the wall). Maths: area of a wall = length × height; take away windows and doors. Pictures per wall is a rate. A room often hides the number 4. Safety: do not climb on high walls.