What does "stonewall" mean?
An obstruction.
Stonewall
/ˈstəʊnwɔːl/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An obstruction.
- Grammar: stonewall is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: baffle, balk, barrier, blast.
- Useful contrasts: assist, assistance, cooperate.
- Usage evidence: Nixon tried to stonewall through Watergate by ignoring it, but it didn't work.
How to use "stonewall"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "stonewall" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "stonewall" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "stonewall" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "stonewall" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
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- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "stonewall" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "baffle" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "stonewall", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An obstruction. idiomatic
"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."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of stonewall (“alcoholic drink”). alt-of
"Try one of the inn's specialties from the old days — a Coow Woow (pronounced coo-woo), a 17th-century drink made with ginger brandy and rum on crushed ice; or a Stonewall, which is a century older — gin and applejack over ice cubes."
- 3 A refusal to cooperate. idiomatic
"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."
- 4 An alcoholic drink popular in colonial America, consisting of apple cider (or sometimes applejack) mixed with rum (or sometimes gin or whisky). historical, idiomatic
"[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."
- 5 Alternative form of stone wall (“wall made of stone”). alt-of, alternative
"The grass looks tempting, and the stonewalls seem built to jump; but the farther west we get, the more rugged become the hillsides and the more broken the beds of the stream, till the scene becomes more akin to the home of the chamois than of the fox. The stonewalls grow higher, stronger, and more frequent, as you rise from the low country and get more fully among the sheepwalks."
Verb
- 1 To obstruct. transitive
"Either the thing to be stonewalled must be itself a bad thing, or it must be stonewalled as the only means of preventing some other wrong being committed; obviously, paying the public creditor was no wrong, and the budget, if wrong, could be effectually obstructed by stonewalling the financial resolutions."
- 2 engage in delaying tactics or refuse to cooperate wordnet
- 3 To refuse to answer or cooperate, especially in supplying information. ambitransitive, informal
"At the press conference, the Prime Minister appeared to be stonewalling when asked about tax increases."
- 4 obstruct or hinder any discussion wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Certain, definite. British, not-comparable
"Fortune favoured the fortunate when Martin Atkinson ignored a stonewall penalty."
Proper Noun
- 1 A series of riots in 1969 New York City, beginning with the patrons of the gay bar "The Stonewall Inn" resisting police arrest, which marked the beginning of the militant gay rights movement. historical
"Stonewall means fighting back."
- 2 A nickname of Confederate general Thomas Jonathan Jackson.
- 3 A formation in chess (a variation of the Queen's Pawn Game) in which white plays pawns to d4 and several other positions, requiring black to react energetically (see Stonewall Attack).
"the Stonewall attack, a Stonewall setup, a Stonewall formation"
- 4 Any of several places:; A town in Manitoba, Canada.
- 5 Any of several places:; A former gold-mining town in California, in the Cuyamaca Mountains.
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 Any of several places:; A town in Louisiana.
- 7 Any of several places:; A town in Mississippi.
- 8 Any of several places:; A town in North Carolina.
- 9 Any of several places:; A town in Oklahoma.
- 10 Any of several places:; An unincorporated community in Texas.
- 11 Any of several places:; An unincorporated community in West Virginia.
Antonyms
Example
"Nixon tried to stonewall through Watergate by ignoring it, but it didn't work."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "stonewall"?
Common synonyms include: baffle, balk, barrier, blast, blockade, brave.
How do you use "stonewall" in a sentence?
Nixon tried to stonewall through Watergate by ignoring it, but it didn't work.
How do you pronounce "stonewall"?
Pronounced /ˈstəʊnwɔːl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
Apparently a corruption of stone cold.
Etymology 3
From stone + wall. The drink is so named because its effect is likened to running into a stone wall. The riots take their name from the Stonewall Inn where they began (in the 1840s, the property was called Bonnie's Stone Wall, later renamed to Bonnie's Stonewall Inn, then the Stonewall Inn Restaurant, and then the Stonewall Inn). The Confederate general acquired his nickname after a battle in which, while other troops were in motion, fellow general Barnard E. Bee observed "there stands Jackson like a stone wall" (either resolutely, or unhelpfully). The chess setup is so named because it is a solid formation which is hard to overrun by force, like a stone wall.
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