noun · neutral

firewall

UK/ˈfaɪə.wɔːl/US/ˈfaɪər.wɔːl/FIRE·wall

Band 5-6task2speaking

A security system that controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on rules.

Examples

The company installed a firewall to block suspicious traffic.

Personal firewalls can help protect your home computer from attacks.

Schools should teach students basic firewall and antivirus practices.

Band 8 sentence

A properly configured firewall is the first line of defence for organisational networks.

Collocations

  • install a firewall
  • network firewall

Word family

firewall nounfirewalling verb

Common mistakes

fire wallfirewall

use a firewall to protect passworduse a firewall to protect the network / use strong passwords to protect accounts

Say it for a higher band

5security software6network protection7+firewall

Synonyms

gateway

Easily confused

antivirus

Make sure you update both your antivirus and firewall regularly.

Related words

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In Technology & Internet

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