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• dry wall
  dry wall

  noun

  Also drywall
• dry-wall
  dry-wall

  verb (used with object)

  to construct or renovate with dry wall.

dry wall

¹ American  

noun

Building Trades.

1. Also drywall

   1. an interior wall or partition finished in a dry material, usually in the form of prefabricated sheets or panels nailed to studs, as distinguished from one that is plastered.

   2. a material, as wallboard or plasterboard, used for such a wall.

2. a masonry or stone wall laid up without mortar.

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dry-wall ² American  

[drahy-wawl] / ˈdraɪˌwɔl /

verb (used with object)

1. to construct or renovate with dry wall.

   to dry-wall the interior of a house.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or having dry wall.

Other Word Forms

• drywaller
  noun

Etymology

Origin of dry wall¹

1770–80, for earlier sense

Origin of dry-wall²

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dry wall dry-wall

Testing done by a professional hygienist allegedly found heavy metals, lead, cyanide and other contaminants, which would require demolition, removal of dry wall and flooring, and other repairs.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2025

This story has been updated to correct that cardboard boxes not dry wall supplies may have been in area where fire started.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 13, 2020

Nastasi, a dry wall contractor, contends that the defendants terminated a long-term relationship with Bloomberg in 2015 in favor of another contractor, Eurotech Construction.

From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2018

Now it’s all gone, along with the sheet rock and the dry wall, leaving the exposed skeleton of the house’s interior.

From Time ● Nov. 9, 2012

This had become his uniform since he had decided to take some time off from fixing up houses—stripping floors, dry wall, the whole nine.

From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds

The galleries are flexible enough, with changing dry-wall partitions and even variable-height ceilings, to respond to any size art.

From Time Magazine Archive

He is a dry-wall and insulation contractor from Waco, Texas, who says he came to Hale's auction with a flock of ostriches to sell and about $25,000 to spend.

From Time Magazine Archive

Today Sokolof's privately held firm, the Phillips Manufacturing Co., has 120 employees and two Omaha plants that specialize in producing various dry-wall channels and metallic building studs.

From Time Magazine Archive

McCauley, a dry-wall finisher from the Kentucky hill country, and his wife, an articulate spokeswoman for Save Our Community Schools, are keeping their children home to protest the busing plan.

From Time Magazine Archive

Forts of dry-wall masonry, which are, undoubtedly, the more ancient, are very numerous in the south-west of Ireland.

From An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 by Cusack, Mary Frances