stonewalls

Noun

stonewall (plural stonewalls)

1. (idiomatic) An obstruction.
   • 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...
2. (idiomatic) A refusal to cooperate.
   • 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...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...
3. (historical, idiomatic) An alcoholic drink popular in colonial America, consisting of apple cider (or sometimes applejack) mixed with rum (or sometimes gin or whisky).
   • [W]e are at a loss to "calculate" the ingredients which enter into such mysterious compounds as "apple-jack," "white nose," "stonewall," chain-lightning," "railroad," "rattle-snake," "back-straightener," "corpse-reviver," "moral suasion," "bottomless-pit," "sabbath-calm," etc.1868 March 17, James McGrigor Allan, “Europeans, and Their Descendants in North America”, in Journal of the Anthropological Society of London, volume VI, London: Trübner & Co., 60, Paternoster Row...

See all 17 meanings of stonewall