climb the walls

Idioms

Show extreme frustration, impatience, or anxiety, as in That long, boring banquet made me want to climb the walls, or If he says that one more time I'll be ready to climb the walls. Although describing a military maneuver dating from ancient times, this slangy phrase has been used figuratively to express strong negative feeling only since about 1970. Also see under drive someone crazy.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“I would love to have a living wall someday,” Stewart says of the practice of allowing plants to climb the walls themselves.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 22, 2022

"We saw this immense black river that was dragging along everything, we had to climb the walls to escape," said resident Alba Cotacachi, who evacuated her two young daughters from their home.

From Reuters • Feb. 1, 2022

The season 39 contestant said he was "fuming" and "about to climb the walls" before claiming the allegations against Spilo are not true.

From Fox News • Dec. 13, 2019

On Wednesday, Afghan television showed protesters trying to climb the walls of the presidential compound.

From Washington Post • Nov. 11, 2015

How Tree-ear wished he could somehow climb the walls and examine the tiles more closely!

From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023