wall, in architecture, protective, enclosing, or dividing vertical structure. Its thickness is determined by the material, height, and stress. It may be of studding and lath, either boarded or plastered; adobe; rammed earth rammed earth, material consisting chiefly of soil of sufficiently stiff consistency that has been placed in forms and pounded down. It has been used for buildings and walls since ancient times and was employed in some of the most ancient fortifications in the Middle
..... Click the link for more information. ; brickwork or stonework; concrete; tile; or of steel in combination with one or more of the preceding materials. The wall serves two functions. A bearing wall is used as a support, e.g., for the floors and roof. Usually raised on foundations, it is thicker at the bottom than at the top and is often buttressed. A nonbearing wall, such as a partition screen screen, in architecture, partition or enclosure not extending to the ceiling; usually a structure in stone, wood, or metal. It frequently serves to mark the boundaries of portions of churches and cathedrals.
..... Click the link for more information. or curtain wall, is used to separate and define spaces and is generally much thinner. A party wall is one common to two adjoining buildings, and a gable wall is one at right angles to the roof ridge. A fire wall, or bulkhead, separates hazardous equipment from the rest of a structure to prevent the spreading of fire; in ships the bulkhead is also watertight. The front wall or face of a building is termed the facade facade (fəsäd`), exterior face or wall of a building.
..... Click the link for more information. . Exterior walls may be finished with stucco stucco (stŭk`ō), in architecture, a term loosely applied to various kinds of plasterwork, both exterior and interior.
..... Click the link for more information. or graffito 1 Method of ornamenting architectural plaster surfaces. The designs are produced by scratching a topcoat of plaster to reveal an undercoat of contrasting and deeper color. The technique of graffito was used in ancient cultures including those of Egypt and Greece.
..... Click the link for more information. and enhanced by bas-relief, tile, mosaic, or painted decoration. Arcade, rustication, and vermiculated work are means of ornamenting brick and stone masonry. In engineering a retaining wall either of Cyclopean Cyclopean (sīkləpē`ən)
..... Click the link for more information. or of wet masonry protects an embankment from washing; a sea wall, or breakwater breakwater, offshore structure to protect a harbor from wave energy or deflect currents. When it also serves as a pier, it is called a quay; when covered by a roadway it is called a mole.
..... Click the link for more information. , is for harbor protection; and a dam dam, barrier, commonly across a watercourse, to hold back water, often forming a reservoir or lake; dams are also sometimes used to control or contain rockslides, mudflows, and the like in regions where these are common.
..... Click the link for more information. is an earth, masonry, or concrete wall to stop the natural flow of a stream to conserve a water supply or create power. The defensive walls of a city or other political division (see Great Wall of China Great Wall of China, fortifications, c.1,500 mi (2,400 km) long, winding across N China from Gansu prov. to Hebei prov. on the Yellow Sea. The wall, running mostly along the southern edge of the Mongolian plain, was erected to protect China from northern nomads.
..... Click the link for more information. ) are frequently two or three concentric ramparts, often including fortification fortification, system of defense structures for protection from enemy attacks. Fortification developed along two general lines: permanent sites built in peacetime, and emplacements and obstacles hastily constructed in the field in time of war.
..... Click the link for more information. and watchtowers. Great portals form the gateways. Notable walls of antiquity were those of Thebes, Troy, Jericho, and Babylon; an example of a medieval wall is that at Carcassonne in France.

wall

Any of various upright constructions used to divide or enclose a room or building. In traditional masonry construction, bearing walls supported the weight of floors and roofs, but modern steel and reinforced-concrete frames, as well as heavy timber and other skeletal structures, require exterior walls only for shelter. Some urban buildings dispense with walls on the ground floor, extending outdoor plazas under the building and permitting easier access to elevators, escalators, and stairs. In masonry construction, all types of floors and roofs except domes are most easily supported on straight, parallel walls. Nonbearing walls, used when loads are carried by girders, beams, or other members, can be either curtain walls or infill of brick, block, or other material. See also cavity wall, retaining wall, shear wall.

wall

1. Anatomy any lining, membrane, or investing part that encloses or bounds a bodily cavity or structure

2. Mountaineering a vertical or almost vertical smooth rock face

wall [wȯl]

(engineering)

A vertical structure or member forming an enclosure or defining a space.

(geology)

The side of a cave passage.

(mining engineering)

The side of a level or drift.

The country rock bounding a vein laterally.

The face of a longwall working or stall, commonly called coal wall.

wall - Unix's "write all" command which sends a message to everyone currently logged in.

wall (redirected from chest wall)

wall

wall
(redirected from chest wall)