PAYWALL Definition & Meaning

paywall

or pay wall

[ pey-wawl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a system in which access to all or part of a website is restricted to paid subscribers:
Some newspapers have put their content behind a paywall.
the part of a website that can be accessed only by paid subscribers.

verb (used with object)

to restrict access to (all or part of a website) to paid subscribers:
Here’s an abstract, but the full article is paywalled.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of paywall¹

First recorded in 2005–10; pay ¹ + (fire)wall

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

But once members realized that outsiders were reading their discussions, the groups shifted to private forums, often behind a paywall.

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The commissioner also made note of how Apple places games every week in front of its paywall.

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That lack of visibility adds to the inequities facing scientists in the Global South who seek alternatives to commercial publishers, with their high fees or subscription paywalls.

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In its 84-page filing, the Canadian media coalition accuses OpenAI of ignoring safeguards like paywalls or copyright disclaimers meant to prevent the unauthorised copying of content.

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Largely because right-wing propaganda circulates so freely and is actually good, while factual information is locked behind paywalls.

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