Fence definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (57)

American Heritage Dictionary (15)

noun A structure serving as an enclosure, a barrier, or a boundary, usually made of posts or stakes joined together by boards, wire, or rails.
noun The art or sport of fencing.
noun One who receives and sells stolen goods.

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Century Dictionary (32)

That which fends off; anything that restrains entrance, or defends from attack, approach, or injury; defense; guard. Let us be back'd with God, and with the seas, Which he hath given forfence impregnable. Shak., 3 Hen. VI., iv. 1. In which [grottos], at this time, many families live in winter, and drive their cattle into them by night, as a fence both against the weather and wild beasts. Pococke, Description of the East, II. i. 48. I wanted no fence against fraud or oppression. Swift, Gulliver's Travels, iv. 10. Our own experience has taught us, nevertheless, that additional fences against these dangers ought not to be omitted. D. Webster, Speech, March 10, 1828. He hath nofence when Gardiner questions him; All oozes out. Tennyson, Queen Mary, i. 4.
An inclosure round a yard, field, or other tract of ground, or round or along the sides of any open space, as part of a large room, a bridge, etc. Specifically, a fence for land is understood, especially in the United States, to be a line of posts and rails or wire, or of boards or pickets; but the term is applicable to a wall, hedge, ditch or trench, bank, or anything that serves to guard against unrestricted ingress and egress, to obstruct the view, or merely as a tangible dividing line. By American statutes, boundary-fences between adjoining owners are usually required to be 4 feet high (in some States 4½), and in good repair, and to consist of a suitable structure, or to be a watercourse or other barrier which the fence-viewers having jurisdiction shall deem sufficient. There is an innumerable multitude of very handsome bridges, all of a single arch, and without any fence on either side, which would be a great inconvenience to a city less sober than Venice. Addison, Remarks on Italy (ed. Bohn), I. 388. Never peep beyond the thorny bound Or oaken fence that hems the paddock round. Cowper, Table-Talk, l. 583. Like three horses that have broken fence, And glutted all night long breast-deep in corn. Tennyson, Princess, ii. Some horses, good performers over any other description of fence, will not jump water under any circumstances. Encyc. Brit., XII. 197.
A guard, guide, or gage designed to regulate or restrict the movement of a tool or machine.

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Examples (50)

The Simones 'lawyer, Billy Garrington, argued that the fence is attractive, buffered by pleasing landscaping and should be allowed to remain because it's not the kind of fence the city's zoning ordinance is trying to prevent. — Latest Articles
Between 1948 and 1967, the fence was a fence, and 400,000 people left the West Bank voluntarily. — MAHAGURU58
The Swishers purchased the property in 2005 thinking the fence was along their own property line. — statesmanjournal.com - Top Stories
Fortunately for Červová, her fence was the only property that suffered serious damage, the Nový Čas daily wrote. — Slovak Spectator
This fence is at the crest of the beach at Tybee Island outside Savannah. — jameswagner.com

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gate · building · bridge · barrier · hedge · roof · rail · garden · tree · wire · road · frame

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English fens, short for defens, defense; see defense.

Century Dictionary (2)

from Middle English fence, fens, fense, defense, guard, an inclosing wall, etc., for defense; an abbreviation, by apheresis, of defense, defence, asfend , q. v., for defend.
from Middle English fencen, fensen; abbreviation of defense, q. v.

fence

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