stonewall
Block all progress
To stonewall is to obstruct or delay by refusing to answer questions or cooperate.
Politicians stonewall investigations, witnesses stonewall interrogators, bureaucracies stonewall requests: The committee accused the agency of stonewalling.
The image is of a stone wall—impenetrable, unyielding.
As a noun, a stonewall is this kind of obstruction, or literally a wall built of stones without mortar. (Capitalized Stonewall refers to the 1969 uprising or historical figures.)
Delaying tactic through speech
- blockSolid mass, or impede
- impedeTo obstruct movement
- stymieTo obstruct or baffle
- thwartPrevent success of
hinder · delay · stall · evade · deflect · refuse · rebuff · noncooperation
filibuster
Delaying tactic through speech
thwart · hinder · delay · stall · evade · deflect · refuse · rebuff · noncooperation · silence
batting
Swinging at pitches
run rate · batsman · crease · wicket · test match · draw · patience · occupy · survival · attritional
fence
Boundary structure between properties
border · perimeter · hedge · fieldstone · masonry · rubble · mortar · cobble · quarry · limestone
- obstructblock, halt, stop, impede, hinder
- stallingstall, stalling, delay, hesitate, procrastinate
- stubbornnessstubbornness, obstinacy, pigheadedness, bullheadedness, mulishness
- Avoiding Answersdodge, evade, deflect, sidestep, evasive
- obstructionobstruction, delay, blockade, barricade, bottleneck
- runaroundevasion, dodge, sidestep, avoidance, stall
stonewallcooperate
Work jointly with others
collaborate · engage · comply · accommodate · assist
stonewallhasten
To accelerate or rush
expedite · accelerate · fast-track · rush · speed up
stoneware, stonewalling, stonewalled, stonewaller, stonewalls, stonewallers