Western Wall

American  

noun

1. a wall in Jerusalem where Jews, on certain occasions, assemble for prayer and lamentation: traditionally believed to be the remains of the western wall of Herod's temple, destroyed by the Romans in a.d. 70.

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Western Wall British  

noun

1. Also called: Wailing Wall.  Judaism a wall in Jerusalem, the last extant part of the Temple of Herod, held sacred by Jews as a place of prayer and pilgrimage

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Example Sentences

In 1993 Pope John Paul II formally recognized Israel, and in 2000 he placed a letter of apology for past Jewish suffering in a Western Wall crevice.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026

At the Western Wall, dozens of Jewish worshippers prayed in the late morning.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

He told reporters the relationship was as strong and "durable as the stones in the Western Wall", while at the holy site in Jerusalem on Sunday.

From BBC • Sep. 14, 2025

“I had grown up going to synagogues,” Cooper explains, “And in Hebrew school, there was always a picture of the Western Wall on one of the walls.”

From Salon • Apr. 21, 2024

We’ll have to count on the Western Wall.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank