Fence definition | Dictionary.com

fence

[fens]

noun, verb, fenced, fenc⋅ing.

–noun

1.	a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of posts and wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a boundary.

2.	Informal. a person who receives and disposes of stolen goods.

3.	the place of business of such a person.

4.	the act, practice, art, or sport of fencing.

5.	skill in argument, repartee, etc.

6.	Machinery. a guard or guide, as for regulating the movements of a tool or work.

7.	Carpentry. a slotted guide used esp. with a framing square to lay out cuts on rafters and staircase strings.

8.	Archaic. a means of defense; a bulwark.

–verb (used with object)

9.	to enclose by some barrier, establishing exclusive right to possession: to fence a farm.

10.	to separate by or as by a fence or fences (often fol. by in, off, out, etc.): to fence off a corner of one's yard; to fence out unwholesome influences.

11.	to defend; protect; guard: The president was fenced by bodyguards wherever he went.

12.	to ward off; keep out.

13.	Informal. to sell (stolen goods) to a fence.

14.	Nautical. to reinforce (an opening in a sail or the like) by sewing on a grommet or other device.

–verb (used without object)

15.	to practice the art or sport of fencing.

16.	to parry arguments; strive to avoid giving direct answers; hedge: The mayor fenced when asked if he would run again.

17.	(of a horse) to leap over a fence.

18.	Obsolete. to raise a defense.

—Idioms

19.	mend one's fences, to strengthen or reestablish one's position by conciliation or negotiation: One could tell by his superficially deferential manner that he was trying to mend his fences.

20.	on the fence, uncommitted; neutral; undecided: The party leaders are still on the fence.

Origin:
1300–50; ME fens, aph. for defens defense

Related forms:

fencelike, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fence (fěns)

A structure serving as an enclosure, a barrier, or a boundary, usually made of posts or stakes joined together by boards, wire, or rails.
The art or sport of fencing.
1. One who receives and sells stolen goods.
2. A place where stolen goods are received and sold.
Archaic A means of defense; a protection.

v. fenced, fenc·ing, fenc·es

v. tr.

To enclose with or as if with a fence. See Synonyms at enclose.
To separate or close off by or as if by means of a fence.
1. To ward off; keep away.
2. To defend.
To sell (stolen goods) to a fence.

v. intr.

To practice the art or sport of fencing.
To use tactics similar to the parry and thrust of fencing.
To avoid giving direct answers; hedge.
To act as a conduit for stolen goods.

[Middle English fens, short for defens, defense; see defense.]
fenc'er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fence

Fence\, n. [Abbrev. from defence.]

1. That which fends off attack or danger; a defense; a protection; a cover; security; shield.

Let us be backed with God and with the seas, Which he hath given for fence impregnable. --Shak.

A fence betwixt us and the victor's wrath. --Addison.

2. An inclosure about a field or other space, or about any object; especially, an inclosing structure of wood, iron, or other material, intended to prevent intrusion from without or straying from within.

Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold. --Milton.

Note: In England a hedge, ditch, or wall, as well as a structure of boards, palings, or rails, is called a fence.

3. (Locks) A projection on the bolt, which passes through the tumbler gates in locking and unlocking.

4. Self-defense by the use of the sword; the art and practice of fencing and sword play; hence, skill in debate and repartee. See Fencing.

Enjoy your dear wit, and gay rhetoric, That hath so well been taught her dazzing fence. --Milton.

Of dauntless courage and consummate skill in fence. --Macaulay.

5. A receiver of stolen goods, or a place where they are received. [Slang] --Mayhew.

Fence month (Forest Law), the month in which female deer are fawning, when hunting is prohibited. --Bullokar.

Fence roof, a covering for defense. "They fitted their shields close to one another in manner of a fence roof." --Holland.

Fence time, the breeding time of fish or game, when they should not be killed.

Rail fence, a fence made of rails, sometimes supported by posts.

Ring fence, a fence which encircles a large area, or a whole estate, within one inclosure.

Worm fence, a zigzag fence composed of rails crossing one another at their ends; -- called also snake fence, or Virginia rail fence.

To be on the fence, to be undecided or uncommitted in respect to two opposing parties or policies. [Colloq.]

Fence

Fence\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fenced (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fencing.]

1. To fend off danger from; to give security to; to protect; to guard.

To fence my ear against thy sorceries. --Milton.

2. To inclose with a fence or other protection; to secure by an inclosure.

O thou wall! . . . dive in the earth, And fence not Athens. --Shak.

A sheepcote fenced about with olive trees. --Shak.

To fence the tables (Scot. Church), to make a solemn address to those who present themselves to commune at the Lord's supper, on the feelings appropriate to the service, in order to hinder, so far as possible, those who are unworthy from approaching the table. --McCheyne.

Fence

Fence\, v. i. 1. To make a defense; to guard one's self of anything, as against an attack; to give protection or security, as by a fence.

Vice is the more stubborn as well as the more dangerous evil, and therefore, in the first place, to be fenced against. --Locke.

2. To practice the art of attack and defense with the sword or with the foil, esp. with the smallsword, using the point only.

He will fence with his own shadow. --Shak.

3. Hence, to fight or dispute in the manner of fencers, that is, by thrusting, guarding, parrying, etc.

They fence and push, and, pushing, loudly roar; Their dewlaps and their sides are bat?ed in gore. --Dryden.

As when a billow, blown against, Falls back, the voice with which I fenced A little ceased, but recommenced. --Tennyson.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Fence

Spanish: valla, cerca,

German: der Zaun,

Japanese: さく

More Translations »

fence

n.
1. A sequence of one or more distinguished (out-of-band) characters (or other data items), used to delimit a piece of data intended to be treated as a unit (the computer-science literature calls this a `sentinel'). The NUL (ASCII 0000000) character that terminates strings in C is a fence. Hex FF is also (though slightly less frequently) used this way. See zigamorph.
2. An extra data value inserted in an array or other data structure in order to allow some normal test on the array's contents also to function as a termination test. For example, a highly optimized routine for finding a value in an array might artificially place a copy of the value to be searched for after the last slot of the array, thus allowing the main search loop to search for the value without having to check at each pass whether the end of the array had been reached.
3. [among users of optimizing compilers] Any technique, usually exploiting knowledge about the compiler, that blocks certain optimizations. Used when explicit mechanisms are not available or are overkill. Typically a hack: "I call a dummy procedure there to force a flush of the optimizer's register-coloring info" can be expressed by the shorter "That's a fence procedure".

Jargon File 4.2.0
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fence (n.)

c.1330, shortening of defens (see defense). Spelling alternated between -c- and -s- in M.E. Sense of "enclosure" is first recorded 1512. Fencible (c.1325) means "capable of making a defense." Sense of "dealer in stolen goods" is thieves' slang, first attested c.1700, from notion of such transactions taking place under defense of secrecy. To be figuratively on the fence "uncommitted" is from 1828, from the notion of spectators at a fight.

fence (v.)

"fight with swords," 1598, first recorded in "Merry Wives of Windsor"; from the noun in this sense (1533), see fence (n.). Fencing is from 1581. In spite of the re-enactment in 1285 of the Assize of Arms of 1181, fencing was regarded as unlawful in England. The keeping of fencing schools was forbidden in the City of London, "as fools who delight in mischief do learn to fence with buckler, and thereby are encouraged in their follies."

fence

An investment position consisting of being long (or short) a stock or commodity, being long (or short) an out-of-the-money put, and being short (or long) an out-of-the-money call. Both options have the same expiration date.

Main Entry: fence
Function: noun
1 : a barrier intended to prevent escape or intrusion or to mark a boundary
2 a : a receiver of stolen goods b : a place where stolen goods are bought

Main Entry: fence
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: fenced; fenc·ing
1 a : to enclose with a fence b : to keep in or out with a fence
2 : to sell (stolen property) to a fence

fence
1. A sequence of one or more distinguished (out-of-band) characters (or other data items), used to delimit a piece of data intended to be treated as a unit (the computer-science literature calls this a "sentinel"). The NUL (ASCII 0000000) character that terminates strings in C is a fence. Hex FF is also (though slightly less frequently) used this way. See zigamorph.
2. An extra data value inserted in an array or other data structure in order to allow some normal test on the array's contents also to function as a termination test. For example, a highly optimised routine for finding a value in an array might artificially place a copy of the value to be searched for after the last slot of the array, thus allowing the main search loop to search for the value without having to check at each pass whether the end of the array had been reached.
3. [among users of optimising compilers] Any technique, usually exploiting knowledge about the compiler, that blocks certain optimisations. Used when explicit mechanisms are not available or are overkill. Typically a hack: "I call a dummy procedure there to force a flush of the optimiser's register-colouring info" can be expressed by the shorter "That's a fence procedure".
[The Jargon File]
(1999-01-08)

Fence

(Heb. gader), Num. 22:24 (R.V.). Fences were constructions of unmortared stones, to protect gardens, vineyards, sheepfolds, etc. From various causes they were apt to bulge out and fall (Ps. 62:3). In Ps. 80:12, R.V. (see Isa. 5:5), the psalmist says, "Why hast thou broken down her fences?" Serpents delight to lurk in the crevices of such fences (Eccl. 10:8; comp. Amos 5:19).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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fence

In addition to the idioms beginning with fence, also see mend one's fences; on the fence; straddle the fence.

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