stonewall
/ˈstəʊnwɔːl
/ /stəʊnˈwɔːl /verb [with object]
1Delay or obstruct (a request, process, or person) by refusing to answer questions or by being evasive: she has also stonewalled queries about her love life (as noun stonewalling) a master in the art of stonewalling and political intimidation...
- When she confronted Don, he stonewalled her and limited her access to the business records.
- The bankers refused to give an inch and just stonewalled us.
- Each and every time I'd try to arrange a meeting, she'd stonewall me.
1.1 [no object] Cricket Bat extremely defensively.MacGill, who has taken 39 wickets in six Tests against England, often found it more difficult bowling to players whose sole intention was to stonewall....
- If they batted the overs West Indies would win so Vaughan had to go for the kill and Browne and Bradshaw stonewalled defiantly.
noun
An act of delaying or obstructing a person, request, or process: I have repeatedly given him the opportunity to clear this matter up, but the estate has met with stonewall after stonewall...
- ‘No comment,’ says Smeaton, the only time in several days he resorts to a stonewall.
- But when the journalist politely quizzed Barry about his pay - whether he felt it complied with the recent sentiment about corporate accountability, and whether he felt earned it - all we got was a stonewall.
- Here were two young reporters who brought down an administration by their doggedness, cutting through the stonewall.
Derivatives
stonewaller
- I have to agree that we tend to be terrifically good stonewallers in the media when we get in trouble.