stonewall
verb
- to be uncooperative, obstructive, or evasive
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈstəʊnwɔːl/ / /ˈstoʊnwɔl/ / /ˈstoʊnwɑl/
adj
Etymology: Apparently a corruption of stone cold.
- Certain, definite.
“Fortune favoured the fortunate when Martin Atkinson ignored a stonewall penalty.”
“[Neil] Lennon also pointed to a booking for Niall McGinn for diving as a stonewall penalty to add to his grievances.”
name
Etymology: 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.
- 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.
“Stonewall means fighting back.”
- A nickname of Confederate general Thomas Jonathan Jackson.
- 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”
- Any of several places:
- Any of several places:
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noun
Etymology: 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.
- Alternative letter-case form of stonewall (“alcoholic drink”).
“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.”
“A Stonewall? That's a man's drink, ma'am. It's hard cider—cider wine at about six-and-one-half percent alcohol with rum added. Quite powerful.”
verb
Etymology: 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.
- To obstruct.
“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.”
- To refuse to answer or cooperate, especially in supplying information.
“At the press conference, the Prime Minister appeared to be stonewalling when asked about tax increases.”
“As he becomes defensive or stonewalls in return, she feels frustrated and angry, and so adds contempt to underscore the strength of her frustration. As her husband finds himself the object of his wife's criticism and contempt, he begins to fall into the innocent-victim or righteous-indignation thoughts that more and more easily trigger flooding. To protect himself from flooding, he becomes more and more defensive or simply stonewalls altogether. But when husbands stonewall, remember, it triggers flooding in their wives, who feel completely stymied.”