fence

/fɛns/

/fɛns/

Other forms: fences; fencing; fenced

A fence is a usually wooden or metal structure that encloses a yard, pasture, or other area. Many people with back yard swimming pools put fences around them to make sure small children don't fall in.

The difference between a fence and a wall is that you can almost always see through a fence, at least to some degree, while a wall is solid. You can use fence as a verb too: "I think I'll fence my yard in, because my chickens keep wandering off." If someone calls you a fence, though, they mean you're selling stolen goods, and if you fence professionally, you participate in the sword fighting sport of fencing.

Definitions of fence

1. noun

   a barrier that serves to enclose an area
   synonyms: fencing

   types:

   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

   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

   dry wall, dry-stone wall

   a stone wall made with stones fitted together without mortar

   party wall

   a wall erected on the line between two properties and shared by both owners

   privet hedge

   hedge of privet plants

   retaining wall

   a wall that is built to resist lateral pressure (especially a wall built to prevent the advance of a mass of earth)

   shelterbelt, windbreak

   hedge or fence of trees designed to lessen the force of the wind and reduce erosion

   Virginia fence, snake fence, snake-rail fence, worm fence

   rail fence consisting of a zigzag of interlocking rails

   type of:

   barrier

   a structure or object that impedes free movement
2. verb

   surround with an enclosure
   “we fenced in our yard”

   synonyms: fence in

   type of:

   close in, enclose, inclose, shut in

   surround completely
3. verb

   surround with a wall in order to fortify
   synonyms: fence in, palisade, surround, wall

   types:

   stockade

   surround with a stockade in order to fortify

   circumvallate

   surround with or as if with a rampart or other fortification

   type of:

   protect, secure

   shield from danger, injury, destruction, or damage
4. noun

   a dealer in stolen property
   type of:

   bargainer, dealer, monger, trader

   someone who purchases and maintains an inventory of goods to be sold
5. verb

   deal stolen goods
   type of:

   have, receive

   get something; come into possession of
6. verb

   fight with sword-like foils
   types:

   block, deflect, parry

   impede the movement of (an opponent or a ball)

   type of:

   contend, fight, struggle

   be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight
7. verb

   have an argument about something
   synonyms: argue, contend, debate

   types:

   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

   brawl, wrangle

   quarrel noisily, angrily or disruptively

   spat

   engage in a brief and petty quarrel

   polemicise, polemicize, polemise, polemize

   engage in a controversy

   fall out

   have a breach in relations

   contend, contest, repugn

   make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation

   type of:

   converse, discourse

   carry on a conversation