brick wall

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A wall built from bricks laid in rows and joined with mortar.

   Grammar: Countable: a brick wall, tall brick walls.

   Patterns

   • a brick wall around something

   A tall brick wall surrounded the old garden.

   The children chalked a goal on the brick wall.

   Ivy had covered the whole brick wall of the house.

2. 2nouncountablefigurativeinformal

   A barrier or obstacle that cannot be passed, especially when someone refuses to listen or help.

   Grammar: Usually figurative with verbs like hit, run into or talk to: we hit a brick wall.

   Patterns

   • hit a brick wall
   • talk to a brick wall
   • come up against a brick wall

   Our investigation hit a brick wall when the records were destroyed.

   Arguing with him is like talking to a brick wall.

   She came up against a brick wall of bureaucracy.

Word forms

Common combinations

hit a brick wall

The talks hit a brick wall on Friday.

like talking to a brick wall

Giving advice to teenagers is sometimes like talking to a brick wall.

run into a brick wall

The police ran into a brick wall in their search.

build a brick wall

They built a brick wall around the yard.

brick wall of silence

Reporters met a brick wall of silence.

Synonyms and how they differ

dead end

It suggests a path that leads nowhere, while brick wall stresses a firm blockage.

obstacle

It is more neutral and could be small, whereas brick wall implies something impossible to get past.

stonewall

It is a verb meaning to refuse to answer, while brick wall is a noun that describes the barrier.

Opposites

Word family

brick noun

a block of baked clay used for building

bricklayer noun

a person who builds with bricks

wall noun

a vertical structure that encloses or divides

Commonly confused: brick wall or stonewalling?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “brick wall”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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