Chinese Wall

American  

noun

Informal.

1. Great Wall of China.

2. an insuperable barrier or obstacle, as to understanding.

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Chinese wall British  

noun

1. a notional barrier between the parts of a business, esp between the market makers and brokers of a stock-exchange business, across which no information should pass to the detriment of clients

2. an insurmountable obstacle

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Etymology

Origin of Chinese Wall

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

So they had stayed put Friday when Butte County deputies drove through with loudspeakers and ordered evacuation of a large swath of mountain land off Chinese Wall Road.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 11, 2017

When I was managing Korrespondent, which at the time was the leading newsmagazine in Ukraine, we didn’t have a Chinese Wall or a picket fence.

From Forbes • Mar. 29, 2015

And when the Chinese Wall was built, where did the masons go for lunch?

From Salon • May 21, 2012

So that all frontiers should fall, we surrounded ourselves with a Chinese Wall.

From Time Magazine Archive

I feel as new as a tourist before Niagara or Montmorency, but as old as Paul and Silas in the presence of the Chinese Wall.

From Child and Country A Book of the Younger Generation by Comfort, Will Levington