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fence

[fens]

Example Sentences Origin

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noun

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.

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

the place of business of such a person.

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

skill in argument, repartee, etc.

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

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

Archaic. a means of defense; a bulwark.

COLLAPSE

Vinyl Fencing www.outdoorvinylfence.com Vinyl Fences, Gates, Decks & More. Sales & Install. Serving SoCal.

verb (used with object)

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 followed 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.

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14.

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

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Fence is one of our favorite verbs.

So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

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; Middle English fens, aphetic for defens defense

Related forms

fence·like, adjective

out·fence, verb (used with object), -fenced, -fenc·ing.

re·fence, verb (used with object), -fenced, -fenc·ing.

un·fence, verb (used with object), -fenced, -fenc·ing.

well-fenced, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To fence

Example Sentences

Then they take a good running start and hurl themselves square into it, sending fence slats flying.

We observe it mainly from the point of view of the fascinated woman next door as she crouches behind a fence.

On the iron-bar fence surrounding a playground a block away from the station hang printed-out pictures.

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Then they take a good running start and hurl themselves square into it, sending fence slats flying.

We observe it mainly from the point of view of the fascinated woman next door as she crouches behind a fence.

On the iron-bar fence surrounding a playground a block away from the station hang printed-out pictures.

Petersburg, newlywed couples decorate this wrought-iron fence with champagne bottles.

Imagine that you are looking at a dog that is standing behind a picket fence.

But only a dry, dusty riverbed was to be seen, cordoned off by a fence and metal gate.

Mexican fence post cactus stand at attention between the courtyard wall and driveway.

University researchers have devised a way to turn a simple chain-link fence into a super-sensitive alert system.

Wobbly wooden fence posts are a nuisance and can lead to the loosening of additional fence parts.

Seriously reconsider your decision to leave until you actually know what is on the other side of the fence.

He survived the tsunami by clinging to a fence on the top of a building as water washed over his head for three minutes.

Also, a chain-link fence helps prevent animals from dashing across the highway.

Faire features some exciting work from local kids who perhaps watched this year's event from the other side of the fence.

Nomadic animals are hard to protect-you can't build a fence around them and charge admission.

Remove the metal fence and the expanse of concrete beyond.

Delegates on the other side of the fence will have a hard time hearing anything.

Laboz was ordered to remove the fence in a temporary injunction granted shortly after the suit was filed.

Whitewashing the fence has been digital for years now.

In a symbolic gesture, the fence came down last month.

More than once-white fence boards now redone in cost cutting black.

Life does know how to adjust and is always in a state of fluctuation to the greener side of the fence.

Fence out the cattle and a bit of natural stream restoration is all it takes.

Some work well as espaliers, turning a blank fence or wall into a beautiful focal point.

Just beyond the chain-link fence and the radio tower is another building, which is one story and also pink.

But environmental groups who have fought the fence called it too little, too late.

The reporting party stated that the fence they locked their motorcycle to had fallen over on top of it.

Anybody who touches the fence would get an electric shock.

On the other side of the highway, it took him almost an hour of intense searching to find the fence opening to freedom.

So the fence was taken down and the whole thing quietly forgotten.

Next door, a sagging chain-link fence surrounds a cinder block kindergarten.

If you want to grow vegetables and you have rabbits in your area, you have to fence in your crops.

Inexplicably, the amplified calls of geese emanate from behind its tall, sharp fence.

There's a surprising pleasure in the absence of a fence that has stood for more than a decade.

The famous canoe, which is kept behind a chain-link fence to protect it from vandals, has not been near the water in weeks.

She is friends with the neighbors lab, though she can act jelous if i pet the other dog over the fence.

For those fence sitters, it is time to be jolted out of unnecessary complacency.

American flags flap in a sequence of shreds from all the fence posts on the place.

Sunset's test garden is designed around a zigzag split-rail fence that runs east to west.

In this clip of tortoise tests in a lab, animals with no coaching fail to locate the treat on the other side of the fence.

No fence ever built has stopped history and this one wouldn't either.

In the event, he wobbled grimly back and forth, losing votes on both sides of the fence.

One day, to his parents' dismay, he slipped through a fence and ran into their neighbor's horse pasture.

I've always responded that a tall fence is the only sure thing.

Boeing's stock might jump tomorrow with all the talk about building the virtual fence.

On the inside of the fence were, naturally, the insiders.

Rafael, a cement worker, has already been caught jumping over the fence five times.

Smith began by removing the picket fence and digging up the yard.

It has the effect of peeking through a picket fence to observe matter.

Satellite photos, some in high resolution, permit peeking over the back fence.

It seems inevitable that their trees will push the fence over.

But others join illegal migrants in trying to reach host countries by raft or by jumping over a fence.

With close neighbors, you could plant a blooming vine on it for a living fence.

With a combination of training, punishment and circuitry, the hidden fence discourages dogs from.

Its not as big a scam and the electronic border fence but its coming close.

But stand next to the fence and arms start to wave through the bars.

Frequently, particularly if the fence is less than.

Deception does not serve well when trying to gain the trust of readers or fence sitters.

Instead it requires they be kept properly confined, such as behind a locked fence or inside a house.

I've worked in higher education for two decades now on both sides of the fence.

Felani's body hung from the barbed-wired fence for five hours.

Just over the fence are the parking lots and tennis courts of a local country club.

Today if a barb wire fence is found don't be to sure it belonged to a farmer.

It opens into a vegetable garden that is enclosed by a wire mesh deer fence.

Frequently, particularly if the fence is less than five.

There are the usual entry methods: from visitors, corrupt guards or in packages hurled over the fence.

Avoid being near a lightning rod or standing near metal objects such as a fence or underground pipes.

The garden beds, pavers, and fence grid are set on a horizontal plane to make the front entry appear more spacious than it is.

Besides location updates, owners can use accompanying software to create a virtual fence for the animal.

Those on the fence have several incentives to stay there for some time yet.

She likes getting outside and watch life through the holes in the fence.

Sensing disaster, scores of spectators began surging over the fence that separated the track apron from the homestretch.

The team recently released a beehive fence construction manual for interested farmers.

They play behind a chain-link fence on what was once a tennis court.

Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity.

Cordoned off by a fence and armed guards soon after the.

It's thrilling to see big browns with no fence or barrier between you and them.

One melancholy cow peers over the fence as a knot of wine connoisseurs gaze at the oak-dotted hills and luxuriously swirl their.

The landscape encroaches, held back by little more than an electric fence.

It did not have enough vaccine to fence off the affected areas.

Watch your backgrounds: phone wires, fence posts, or white delivery vans detract from nature's beauty.

In fact it rarely shows up in my garden, though the forest beyond my back fence is full of them.

The tops of fence posts lit up with electrical discharges.

Roland's curiosity was peaked, as there was no reason for a fence to be there in the first place.

First, they removed an old wood fence and built a stucco-on-cinderblock wall around the yard.

Meanwhile, many other experts are sitting on the fence.

Tends to branch freely in a flat pattern, making a natural espalier if given the support of a warm, sunny wall or fence.

Here a small spider web spans a square of a chain link fence.

Magnificent in large borders against background of dark green foliage, wall, or solid fence.

Consider adding a fence to define the location and keep the site secure.

There was no fence for privacy, and no plants to soften the.

Another solution she encourages is the boma or fence.

Use to cover a fence or arbor or as a rough bank cover.

Others are heated and cut into fence posts, rebar, or even bed frames.

Use along sunny fence or as background for flowers or other vegetables.

We drove onto a compound surrounded by a security fence.

Use as cover for arbor, pergola, or chain-link fence.

Use it as an accent in front of a living ocotillo fence or as a backdrop for small blue agaves.

Three markers surrounded by a white picket fence mark the resting place of the park's namesake.

White created a split-level living space complete with built-in seating and a peekaboo fence.

Train as privacy or wind screen on chain link or wire fence.

There was no fence for privacy and no plants to soften the landscape.

Pistils can even hook you up with a local carpenter for a custom fence or gate.

Can be sheared as a low hedge, grown as a pot plant for indoor use, or trained against a fence or espalier.

Surround the perimeter of the bed or garden with edging or a fence.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

fence (fɛns)

—n
1.	a structure that serves to enclose an area such as a garden or field, usually made of posts of timber, concrete, or metal connected by wire, netting, rails, or boards
2.	slang a dealer in stolen property
3.	an obstacle for a horse to jump in steeplechasing or showjumping
4.	machinery a guard or guide, esp in a circular saw or plane
5.	a projection usually fitted to the top surface of a sweptback aircraft wing to prevent movement of the airflow towards the wing tips
6.	mend one's fences
	a. chiefly (US), (Canadian) to restore a position or reputation that has been damaged, esp in politics
	b. to re-establish friendly relations (with someone)
7.	on the fence unable or unwilling to commit oneself
8.	informal (Austral), (NZ) over the fence unreasonable, unfair, or unjust
9.	sit on the fence to be unable or unwilling to commit oneself

—vb
10.	(tr) to construct a fence on or around (a piece of land, etc)
11.	(tr; foll by in or off) to close (in) or separate (off) with or as if with a fence: he fenced in the livestock
12.	(intr) to fight using swords or foils
13.	(intr) to evade a question or argument, esp by quibbling over minor points
14.	(intr) to engage in skilful or witty debate, repartee, etc
15.	slang (intr) to receive stolen property
16.	archaic (tr) to ward off or keep out

[C14 fens, shortened from defensdefence]

'fenceless

—*adj*

'fencelike

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

fence

early 14c., shortening of defens (see defense). Spelling alternated between -c- and -s- in M.E. Sense of "enclosure" is first recorded 1510s. Fencible (early 14c.) means "capable of making a defense." Sense of "dealer in stolen goods" is thieves' slang, first attested c.1700,

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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

"fight with swords," 1590s, first recorded in "Merry Wives of Windsor"; from the noun in this sense (1530s), see fence (n.). 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."

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FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

fence definition

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".
[Jargon File]
(1999-01-08)

Easton

Bible Dictionary

Fence definition

(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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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

fence

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