Library / English Dictionary

FENCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A barrier that serves to enclose an area

Synonyms:

fence; fencing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("fence" is a kind of...):

barrier (a structure or object that impedes free movement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fence"):

backstop ((baseball) a fence or screen (as behind home plate) to prevent the ball from traveling out of the playing field)

chainlink fence (a fence of steel wires woven into a diamond pattern)

hedge; hedgerow (a fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes)

paling; picket fence (a fence made of upright pickets)

rail fence; split-rail fence (a fence (usually made of split logs laid across each other at an angle))

stone wall (a fence built of rough stones; used to separate fields)

wall (a masonry fence (as around an estate or garden))

weir (a fence or wattle built across a stream to catch or retain fish)

Holonyms ("fence" is a part of...):

fence line (a boundary line created by a fence)

Derivation:

fence (surround with a wall in order to fortify)

fence (enclose with a fence)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A dealer in stolen property

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("fence" is a kind of...):

bargainer; dealer; monger; trader (someone who purchases and maintains an inventory of goods to be sold)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Derivation:

fence (receive stolen goods)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have an argument about something

Synonyms:

argue; contend; debate; fence

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "fence" is one way to...):

converse; discourse (carry on a conversation)

"Fence" entails doing...:

differ; disagree; dissent; take issue (be of different opinions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fence"):

stickle (dispute or argue stubbornly (especially minor points))

spar (fight verbally)

bicker; brabble; niggle; pettifog; quibble; squabble (argue over petty things)

altercate; argufy; dispute; quarrel; scrap (have a disagreement over something)

oppose (be against; express opposition to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Surround with a wall in order to fortify

Synonyms:

fence; fence in; palisade; surround; wall

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "fence" is one way to...):

protect (shield from danger, injury, destruction, or damage)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fence"):

stockade (surround with a stockade in order to fortify)

circumvallate (surround with or as if with a rampart or other fortification)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

fence (a barrier that serves to enclose an area)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Fight with fencing swords

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "fence" is one way to...):

contend; fight; struggle (be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fence"):

block; deflect; parry (impede the movement of (an opponent or a ball))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fencer (someone skilled at fencing)

fencing (the art or sport of fighting with swords (especially the use of foils or epees or sabres to score points under a set of rules))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Enclose with a fence

Example:

we fenced in our yard

Synonyms:

fence; fence in

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "fence" is one way to...):

close in; enclose; inclose; shut in (surround completely)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

fence; fencing (a barrier that serves to enclose an area)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Receive stolen goods

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "fence" is one way to...):

have; receive (get something; come into possession of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fence (a dealer in stolen property)

Credits

 Context examples: 

And she immediately scrambled across the fence, and walked away, not attending to Fanny's last question of whether she had seen anything of Miss Crawford and Edmund.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Then he advanced to the stockade, threw over his crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour and skill succeeded in surmounting the fence and dropping safely to the other side.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Broken fences, crumbling walls, vineyards littered with stones, the shattered arches of bridges—look where you might, the signs of ruin and rapine met the eye.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He knew not what could be the use of those several clefts and divisions in my feet behind; that these were too soft to bear the hardness and sharpness of stones, without a covering made from the skin of some other brute; that my whole body wanted a fence against heat and cold, which I was forced to put on and off every day, with tediousness and trouble: and lastly, that he observed every animal in this country naturally to abhor the Yahoos, whom the weaker avoided, and the stronger drove from them.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

He still slept in his little room at Maria's, but the sight of his new clothes caused the neighborhood children to cease from calling him hobo and tramp from the roofs of woodsheds and over back fences.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Meg and Beth were frightened, but Jo clapped and pranced, and I sat on the fence and drew you.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

There were neat fences at the sides of the road, painted a dainty blue color, and beyond them were fields of grain and vegetables in abundance.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Well, I waited until the road was clear—it is never a very frequented one at any time, I fancy—and then I clambered over the fence into the grounds.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He provided foils for us, and Steerforth gave me lessons in fencing—gloves, and I began, of the same master, to improve in boxing.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He leaped a ditch, went through a rail fence, and fled across a field.

(White Fang, by Jack London)