1. An eye in which the iris is of a very light gray or whitish color; —
said usually of horses. Booth.
Jonson has defined wall-eye to be "a disease in the crystalline humor
of the eye; glaucoma." But glaucoma is not a disease of the crystalline
humor, nor is wall-eye a disease at all, but merely a natural blemish.
Tully. In the north of England, as Brockett states, persons are said to
be wall-eyed when the white of the eye is very large and distorted, or
on one side.
2. (Zoöl.) (a) An American fresh-water food fish (Stizostedion vitreum)
having large and prominent eyes; — called also glasseye, pike perch,
yellow pike, and wall-eyed perch. (b) A California surf fish
(Holconotus argenteus). (c) The alewife; — called also wall-eyed
herring.
Wall"-eyed` (?), a. [Icel. valdeygðr, or vagleygr; fr. vagl a beam, a
beam in the eye (akin to Sw. vagel a roost, a perch, a sty in the eye)
+ eygr having eyes (from auga eye). See Eye.] Having an eye of a very
light gray or whitish color. Booth.
Shakespeare, in using wall-eyed as a term of reproach (as "wall-eyed
rage," a "wall-eyed wretch"), alludes probably to the idea of unnatural
or distorted vision. See the Note under Wall- eye. It is an eye which
is utterly and incurably perverted, an eye that knows no pity.
Wall"flow`er (?), n.
1. (Bot.) A perennial, cruciferous plant (Cheiranthus Cheiri), with
sweet-scented flowers varying in color from yellow to orange and deep
red. In Europe it very common on old walls.
The name is sometimes extended to other species of Cheiranthus and of
the related genus Erysimum, especially the American Western wallflower
(Erysimum asperum), a biennial herb with orange-yellow flowers.
2. A lady at a ball, who, either from choice, or because not asked to
dance, remains a spectator. [Colloq.]
Wall"hick` (?), n. (Zoöl.) The lesser spotted woodpecker (Dryobates
minor). [Prov. Eng.]
Wall"ing, n. 1. The act of making a wall or walls.