All phrases › hit a brick wall
What does “hit a brick wall” mean?
Meaning, example sentence and a quick practice question.
C1
To reach a point where you can't make any further progress
“We hit a brick wall trying to get a refund.”
Say it smoothly: “hi-ta-brick-wall”
From the C1 lesson A Piece of Cake (easy and difficult).
Quick check
What does “hit a brick wall” mean?
Teaching this phrase?“hit a brick wall” is part of a ready-to-teach lesson, with a reading, three exercises, speaking tasks and an answer key, in Everyday English Chunks C1 Pack 2 (Plans, Problems and Feelings).
See the C1 lesson pack
See the C1 lesson pack
Or get all 32 lessons in the complete C1 course and save 25%.
Want to use phrases like this with confidence?Practice them in a one-to-one lesson with me, an experienced online English teacher.
Book a lesson
Book a lesson
Related phrases
- a piece of cakesomething very easy to do
- an uphill battlea difficult struggle that requires a lot of effort
- easier said than doneused when something sounds simple but is actually difficult to achieve
- a tall ordera difficult or demanding request or task
- sink or swimto succeed or fail entirely through your own efforts, without help
- back to square onestarting again from the very beginning
- cut cornersto do something in the quickest or cheapest way, often lowering the quality
- bite off more than you can chewto take on more than you're able to manage
- plain sailinga situation that goes smoothly, without any problems