Stonewall Meaning
/ˈstəʊnwɔːl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn obstruction.
nounA refusal to cooperate.
Sentence Examples
Nixon tried to stonewall through Watergate by ignoring it, but it didn't work.
Stonewall is a gay bar.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Despite the committee's request for information, the official decided to ____ the investigation by refusing to answer.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The politician tried to ____ the reporters by refusing to answer any direct questions about the scandal.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1899 July 25, Richard John Seddon (Premier of New Zealand), “Old-age Pensions Act”, in New Zealand. Parliamentary Debates. Fourth Session, Thirteenth Parliament. Legislative Council and House of Representatives, volumes 107 (Comprising the Period from July 20 to August 10, 1899), Wellington: By authority; John Mackay, government printer, →OCLC, page 112, column 2:
"[…] 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."
— 1957 June, George Langelaan, “The Fly”, in Playboy, Chicago, Ill.: Playboy Enterprises, →OCLC; republished as “The Fly”, in Paul Kane and Marie O'Regan, editors, The Mammoth Book of Body Horror, London: Robinson, Constable & Robinson, 2012, →ISBN:
"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."
— 1985, Richard Holmes, chapter 1, in Footsteps: Adventures of a Romantic Biographer, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN; republished London: Penguin Books, 1985, →ISBN, part 1 (1964: Travels), page 14:
"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."
— 1923 February 17, William Ferguson Massey (Prime Minister of New Zealand), “Order of Business”, in New Zealand. Parliamentary Debates. First Session, Twenty-first Parliament. Legislative Council and House of Representatives, volumes 199 (Comprising the Period from February 7 to February 17, 1923), Wellington: By authority; W. A. G. Skinner, government printer, →OCLC, page 362, column 1:
""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.""
— 2017, Elodia Strain, chapter 15, in The Dating Experiment, Springville, Utah: Sweetwater Books, Cedar Fort, Inc., →ISBN:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Despite the committee's request for information, the official decided to ____ the investigation by refusing to answer.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The politician tried to ____ the reporters by refusing to answer any direct questions about the scandal.