dry walln.
/ˈdrʌɪ wɔːl/, U.S. /ˈdraɪ ˌwɔl/, /ˈdraɪ ˌwɑl/ (in sense 1 also)Brit. /ˌdrʌɪ ˈwɔːl/, U.S. /ˌdraɪ ˈwɔl/, /ˌdraɪ ˈwɑl/ 1. A wall built without mortar, typically of stone. Cf. drystone wall at drystone adj. 1.
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the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > wall > stone wall > stone wall without mortar
stonewallc825
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Muro a secco, a dry wall.
1606 J. Dod & R. Cleaver Plaine Expos. Prov. IX. & X. x. ix. 74 His heart is not..like a dry wall without a quoine or buttresse, or any other binding to fortifie it.
1699 J. Stevens tr. J. de Mariana Gen. Hist. Spain xvii. vii. 287 Henry perceiving King Peter had shut himself into the Town, immediately encompass'd it with a dry Wall, of Stone, without Mortar, that he might not escape.
1778 G. White Let. 3 July in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 236 Lathræa squammaria, tooth-wort..on the dry wall opposite Grange-yard.
1872 Pop. Sci. Monthly Sept. 513 With bricks made of bad materials,..he cannot build a dry wall of the same height and stability.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1223 The fat-leaved stonecrops and the ice plants are familiar, the former perfectly at home on the tops of dry walls.
2016 Derby Tel. (Nexis) 24 Mar. 3 The garden is bordered by a dry wall of local limestone and laurel hedging for privacy.
2. Originally and chiefly North American. Now usually in form drywall. A lightweight building board made of plaster with a reinforcing or strengthening material (now typically thick paper bonded to a plaster core), used to construct or line the inner walls of buildings, esp. houses; = plasterboard n.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > plaster > [noun] > plasterboard
plasterboard1891
Sheetrock1921
1937 Cincinnati Enquirer 17 Oct. ii. 1/5 The modern method of dry-wall construction in office buildings through the use of transite partitions, will be illustrated with motion picture slides.
1965 Pop. Mech. Apr. 162/1 The most common use of drywall—also called gypsum wallboard and plasterboard—is in finishing a new room.
1980 Family Handyman Sept. 49/3 Cut out a small opening in the center of the outline with a drywall saw.
2018 New Yorker 10 Sept. 79/1 Having spent my day carrying sixty-pound drywall across damp pavement and up bannisterless staircases in one of the state-of-the-art family residences..I would drive to my apartment.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).
> as lemmas
dry wall
dry wall n. a wall built without mortar.
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1778 G. White Let. 3 July in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 236 Lathræa squammaria, tooth-wort..on the dry wall opposite Grange-yard.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Dry-wall, a wall without lime.
1873 H. Spencer Study Sociol. (1877) iii. 48 A dry wall of the same height and stability.
dry wall
dry wall n. North American (now usually drywall) = plasterboard n.; frequently attributive.
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1950 Better Homes & Gardens Nov. 42/1 ‘Dry-wall’ construction is a comparatively new term. It is a way to finish interior walls with dry materials.
1965 Pop. Mech. Apr. 162/1 The most common use of drywall—also called gypsum wallboard and plasterboard—is in finishing a new room.
1980 Family Handyman Sept. 49/3 Cut out a small opening in the center of the outline with a drywall saw.
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