go to the wall

English

Etymology

From a fight or military retreating until they cannot escape; see have one's back to the wall and retreat to the wall doctrine in common law.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

go to the wall (third-person singular simple present goes to the wall, present participle going to the wall, simple past went to the wall, past participle gone to the wall)

1. (idiomatic) To make an all-out effort.

   He'll be the one who goes to the wall when it's needed.

   He's always been willing to go to the wall for his friends.

   That was the one point he was willing to go to the wall on.

2. (idiomatic) To fail, to run out of options. (especially of a business)
   • 2012 October 13, “Iran and its currency crisis: A comeback for the reformers?”, in The Economist:

     That may be cold comfort for the many import-reliant businesses that have gone to the wall as a result of the rial’s recent plunge of 40% against the dollar [...]

3. To be put aside or forgotten.
4. To take an extreme and determined position or measure.

Usage notes

• In the sense "to make an all-out effort", go to the wall is used with for (“on behalf of”) and on (“about"," concerning”) and other synonymous prepositions.

Related terms

• have one's back to the wall
• retreat to the wall

See also

• balls to the wall
• go to the mat
• up against the wall

References

• Go to the wall, at The Word Detective
• "Heavens to Betsy" by Charles Earle Funk (1955, Harper & Row, New York). Quoted at The Phrase Finder
• “go to the wall”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.