walling off
Sealing something away
Walling off is the act of separating or isolating something by creating a barrier, literal or figurative.
You might wall off a section of a room with drywall, or wall off painful memories to avoid dealing with them.
She accused him of walling off his emotions.
The phrase suggests deliberate containment—keeping something in or out.
- blockingImpeding forward progress
- isolatingSetting apart from contact
- sealingMaking impermeable
- barricadingBlocking passage with obstacles
- iron curtainDivider of forged metal
separating · partitioning · shutting out · enclosing · gated community · fortifying · barrier · compartmentalizing · excluding · quarantine · dividing · shielding · fencing · defending · stone · mortar · bricks · brick by brick
- detachmentemotional numbness, detached, dispassion, disengaged, indifference
- restrainingconstraining, restricting, limiting, confining, curbing
- dividing thingssplitting, separating, sectioning, slicing, dicing
walling offopening up
Becoming less guarded
letting in · unblocking · unlocking · unsealing · freeing up
walling offopening up
Becoming less guarded
reaching out · letting in · lowering one's guard · confiding · unburdening
walling offintegrating
Combining into a whole
merging · unifying · incorporating · combining · consolidating
wall, walling, walled, walls, off, wallboard, stonewall, stonewalling, stonewalled