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.
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.
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 defensdefense
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.
"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
mod. angry. (California.) : Boy, was that old man fenced!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source