paywall

UK/ˈpeɪ.wɔːl/US/ˈpeɪ.wɔl/

nounC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Other forms: paywalls

A paywall is the screen that hides the article until you pay. Hit a paywall.

It is how most serious journalism is now funded, after advertising stopped covering it. A paywall means an article cannot be checked by everybody who reads about it.

Definitions of paywall

1nounpaywallThe screen that hides the article until you pay.C1
“The paywall appeared halfway through the third paragraph.”

paywall is a barrier.

Where it comes from

Pay plus wall, on the model of firewall.

From pay + wall, by analogy with firewall.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Technology & Internet

Practise this word

paywall in the wild

As of 2025, the magazine is both ad-supported and has a membership model with a metered paywall.
Slate (magazine)
A paywall is a method of restricting access to content, with a purchase or a paid subscription, especially news.
Paywall
In academics, research papers are often subject to a paywall and are available via academic libraries that subscribe.
Paywall
On the 11th of July, 2025, a paywall service named "evertontv+" was introduced, which replaced the previous free on registration model.
Evertontv
There is a paywall installed, but four articles per month are free.
Mittelbayerische Zeitung

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

paywalled article

← Vocabulary