Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small defensive earthwork or fort.
  • noun A decorative wall bracket for holding candles or lights.
  • noun A flattened candlestick that has a handle.
  • noun Slang The human head or skull.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A lantern with a protecting shade; a dark lantern; any lantern.
  • noun A candlestick having the form of a bracket projecting from a wall or column; also, a group of such candlesticks, forming, with an appliqué or flat, somewhat ornamented disk or plaque which seems to adhere to the wall, a decorative object. These were most commonly of brass during the years when sconces were most in use.
  • noun The socket for the candle in a candlestick of any form, especially when having a projecting rim around it.
  • noun A cover; a shelter; a protection; specifically, a screen or partition to cover or protect anything; a shed or hut for protection from the weather; a covered stall.
  • noun A work for defense, detached from the main works for some local object; a bulwark; a block-house; a fort, as for the defense of a pass or river.
  • noun A cover or protection for the head; a headpiece; a helmet.
  • noun Hence The head; the skull; the cranium, especially the top of it.
  • noun Brains; sense; wits; judgment or discretion.
  • noun A mulct; a fine. See sconce, v. t., 3.
  • noun A seat in old-fashioned open chimney-places; a chimney-seat.
  • noun A fragment of an ice-floe.
  • To fortify or defend with a sconce or block-house.
  • Same as ensconce.
  • To assess or tax at so much per head; mulct; fine; specifically, in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, to put the name of in the college buttery-books by way of fine; mulct in a tankard of ale or the like for some offense. See the quotations.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To shut up in a sconce; to imprison; to insconce.
  • transitive verb obsolete To mulct; to fine.
  • noun A fortification, or work for defense; a fort.
  • noun A hut for protection and shelter; a stall.
  • noun A piece of armor for the head; headpiece; helmet.
  • noun colloq. Fig.: The head; the skull; also, brains; sense; discretion.
  • noun A poll tax; a mulct or fine.
  • noun A protection for a light; a lantern or cased support for a candle; hence, a fixed hanging or projecting candlestick.
  • noun Hence, the circular tube, with a brim, in a candlestick, into which the candle is inserted.
  • noun (Arch.) A squinch.
  • noun A fragment of a floe of ice.
  • noun Prov. Eng. A fixed seat or shelf.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A light fixture.
  • noun A head or a skull.
  • noun A type of small fort or other fortification, especially as built to defend a pass or ford.
  • verb obsolete to impose a fine, a forfeit, or a mulct.
  • verb obsolete to shut within a sconce; to imprison.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a shelter or screen providing protection from enemy fire or from the weather
  • noun a candle or flaming torch secured in a sconce
  • noun a decorative wall bracket for holding candles or other sources of light
  • noun a small fort or earthwork defending a ford, pass, or castle gate

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Dutch schans, from German Schanze, from Middle High German.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French esconse, lantern, hiding place, from Medieval Latin scōnsa, from Latin abscōnsa, feminine past participle of abscondere, to hide away : ab-, abs-, away; see ab– + condere, to preserve; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French esconce ("lantern"), from Latin absconsus ("hidden"), perfect passive participle of abscondō ("hide"). Cognate with abscond.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle Dutch schans, cognate with German Schanze.

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Examples

  • Historic-style phone sconce at Wisconsin and Massachusetts avenues, after dark.

    A gazetteer of the fading pay phone washingtonpost.com editors 2010

  • Daily Pic: A wall sconce by Washington sculptor Dan Steinhilber, seen recently on a wall at G Fine Art, where his latest show lauches on Oct. 30.

    Gopnik's Daily Pic: Dan Steinhilber Blake Gopnik 2010

  • The maximum amount of light that the sconce emits (this is the case in the last picture) is enough to create a nice, peaceful atmosphere.

    Disguised Lighting into Your Home Decor : Torn Lighting 2009

  • Generally, you want a sconce to be high enough on a staircase wall that you don't accidentally bump against it.

    The Best Spot for Sconces Alexa Hampton 2011

  • The most important thing to remember is that the sconce should not be so high that you see the light bulb peeking out from under the shade when passing by.

    The Best Spot for Sconces Alexa Hampton 2011

  • As one turns the face of the sconce, a splash of light is unleashed onto the wall.

    Disguised Lighting into Your Home Decor : Torn Lighting 2009

  • She spotted the source of the smell in a sconce hanging halfway up the wall in the hallway across from the couches.

    The Fugitive Waits Jack Ales-Oruam 2011

  • She fidgeted and her eyes joined Steph's on the sconce.

    The Fugitive Waits Jack Ales-Oruam 2011

  • Her eyes were still on the sconce and she appeared to be talking to herself.

    The Fugitive Waits Jack Ales-Oruam 2011

  • TOO HIGH | When a sconce is too high on the wall, you see a naked bulb under the shade, which is always a no-no.

    The Best Spot for Sconces Alexa Hampton 2011

Comments

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  • "The lobby downstairs had been decorated with marble and bronze sconces. That was just a prelude. The lift opened to a staircase landing flooded with morning light from large dormer windows; it was big enough to hold a billiard tournament."

    - 'The Quiet Girl', Peter Høeg.

    March 18, 2008