stonewall

Etymology

It is formed from English stone + wall,^[2][3][4] a compound already present in Old English as stānweall (“a wall of stone”)^[5][6] and in Middle English as ston-wal, a wall or rampart of stone or masonry.^[6][4] The verb is a conversion of the noun:^[2][7] the Shorter Oxford explains it from the stone wall as the type of an immovable barrier.^[3] The OED notes that the agent noun stonewaller is recorded slightly earlier than the verb.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A wall built of stone: in Old English, in the Old English Martyrology,^[2][8] and in Old English glosses and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 921.^[5] From Middle English on it was usually written as two words.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The figurative senses began as an epithet for a person who stands firm against attack: the OED's first record is from the Richmond Daily Dispatch of October 1861.^[2][8] Etymonline links it with the Confederate general Thomas J. Jackson, whose nickname was supposedly given at the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 by General Bernard Bee, who told his brigade that Jackson was "standing like a stone wall"; the story appeared in Southern newspapers within days of the battle, though R. M. Johnston, in a book on Bull Run, doubted that the words were authentic.^[4] Green's Dictionary of Slang also points to Jackson's nickname.^[9] The obstructive senses arose in Australian and New Zealand politics: a stonewall, the blocking of parliamentary business by long speeches and evasive answers, is recorded from 1875, and the verb from 1876, the same year it was first used in cricket of batting purely defensively.^[2][8] The Century Dictionary already identified stonewalling as originally Australian.^[4] Etymonline dates the verb by 1889 in sport and by 1914 in politics,^[4] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives 1889 for the cricket sense.^[10] From 1899 the verb was used more generally of refusing to answer or blocking an enquiry or request,^[2][8] which Merriam-Webster Unabridged defines as being uncooperative, obstructive or evasive.^[10] In British football, originally in Scotland, a stonewall foul or penalty, one beyond any doubt, is recorded from 1985.^[8][11]

Timeline

• Old English – a wall built of stone, later usually written as two words.^[2][5]
• 1861 – an epithet for a person who resists opposition doggedly.^[2][8]
• 1864 – a person proverbial for dogged courage or endurance in defence (now rare).^[2]
• 1869 – as a modifier in cricket, of very defensive batting.^[8]
• 1875 – in Australian and New Zealand politics, the obstruction of parliamentary business by long speeches and evasive answers.^[2][8]
• 1876 – verb, to obstruct parliamentary business; also, in cricket, to bat very defensively.^[2][8] Etymonline dates the sporting use by 1889 and the political one by 1914.^[4]
• 1899 – verb, more generally, to obstruct, or to refuse to answer a person or enquiry.^[2][8]
• 1907 – noun, very defensive batting in cricket.^[2][8]
• 1985 – as a modifier in football, of an obvious foul or penalty.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (cricket) To bat entirely defensively, blocking the ball with little attempt to score.^{[10][11][12][2]}
2. (chiefly British) To obstruct parliamentary business with long speeches and other delaying tactics, much like a filibuster.^[10][11][13]
3. To be deliberately uncooperative or evasive; to block a request or enquiry by delay or by refusing to answer: The ministry stonewalled every question about the contract.^[10][12][2]

Noun

1. A wall built of stone; now usually written stone wall.^[2][6]
2. The obstruction of business or of an enquiry by evasive or delaying tactics; an instance of this.^[2]
3. (cricket) Very defensive and cautious batting.^[2]
4. An epithet for a person who resists opposition doggedly, often with a capital letter.^[2]

Adjective

1. Leaving no room for doubt; certain: a stonewall winner.^[11][8]

Word family

• stonewaller
• stonewalling

Related words

• stone
• wall

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
6. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
10. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ The Macquarie Dictionary (2013), 6th ed., Sydney: Macquarie Dictionary Publishers