fence

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A thin artificial barrier that separates two pieces of land or forms a perimeter enclosing the lands of a house, building, etc.
2. (countable, informal, uncountable) Someone who hides or buys and sells stolen goods, a criminal middleman for transactions of stolen goods.
3. (broadly, countable, uncountable) The place whence such a middleman operates.
4. (countable, uncountable) Skill in oral debate.
5. (obsolete, uncountable) The art or practice of fencing.
6. (countable, uncountable) A guard or guide on machinery.
7. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A barrier, for example an emotional barrier.
8. (countable, uncountable) A memory barrier.
9. (countable, uncountable) The boundary.

Verb

1. (transitive) To enclose, contain or separate by building fence.
2. (transitive) To defend or guard.
3. (transitive) To engage in the selling or buying of stolen goods.
4. (intransitive) To engage in the sport of fencing.
5. (intransitive) To jump over a fence.
6. (intransitive) To conceal the truth by giving equivocal answers; to hedge; to be evasive.

Synonyms

hedge

wall

enclosure

barrier

palisade

fencing

corral

paling

enclose

railing

fence in

surround

stockade

rail

hurdle

contend

debate

stall fence

pen

🖊️

argue

build

bulwark

railings

swordsmanship

dealer in stolen goods

hinder

stonewall

swordplay

bar

boundary

protection

barricade

fort

obstacle

yard

grating

farm

border

enclosed area

clog

encircle

limits

edge

choke up

block

lattice

inclosure

line

lock

🔒

drop

Translations

clôture

Zaun

cerca

cerca

hek

barrière

recinto

palissade

Umzäunung

omheining

mur

steccato

tanca

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fɛns/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: fence

In summary

From Middle English fence, fens, short for defence, defens (“the act of defending”), from Old French defens, defense (see defence).
The sense "enclosure" arises in the mid 15th century.
Also from the 15th century is use as a verb in the sense "to enclose with a fence". The generalized sense "to defend, screen, protect" arises ca. 1500. The sense "to fight with swords (rapiers)" is from the 1590s (Shakespeare).
Displaced native Old English heġe (compare Modern English hedge).