[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

fence \fence\ fe^ns, n. abbrev. from defence.
   1. that which fends off attack or danger; a defense; a
      protection; a cover; security; shield.
      1913 webster

            let us be backed with god and with the seas,
            which he hath given for fence impregnable. --shak.
      1913 webster

            a fence betwixt us and the victor's wrath.
                                                  --addison.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

            leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold.
                                                  --milton.
      1913 webster

   note: in england a hedge, ditch, or wall, as well as a
         structure of boards, palings, or rails, is called a
         fence.
         1913 webster

   3. locks a projection on the bolt, which passes through the
      tumbler gates in locking and unlocking.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

            enjoy your dear wit, and gay rhetoric,
            that hath so well been taught her dazzing fence.
                                                  --milton.
      1913 webster

            of dauntless courage and consummate skill in fence.
                                                  --macaulay.
      1913 webster

   5. a receiver of stolen goods, or a place where they are
      received. slang --mayhew.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster
see also:
fencing fence month fence roof fence time rail fence ring fence 
worm fence snake fence virginia rail fence to be on the fence 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

fence \fence\, v. t. imp.  p. p. fenced fe^nst; p. pr. 
   vb. n. fencing fe^n"si^ng.
   1. to fend off danger from; to give security to; to protect;
      to guard.
      1913 webster

            to fence my ear against thy sorceries. --milton.
      1913 webster

   2. to inclose with a fence or other protection; to secure by
      an inclosure.
      1913 webster

            o thou wall . . . dive in the earth,
            and fence not athens.                 --shak.
      1913 webster

            a sheepcote fenced about with olive trees. --shak.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster
see also:
fenced fencing to fence the tables 

[3] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

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.
      1913 webster

            vice is the more stubborn as well as the more
            dangerous evil, and therefore, in the first place,
            to be fenced against.                 --locke.
      1913 webster

   2. to practice the art of attack and defense with the sword
      or with the foil, esp. with the smallsword, using the
      point only.
      1913 webster

            he will fence with his own shadow.    --shak.
      1913 webster

   3. hence, to fight or dispute in the manner of fencers, that
      is, by thrusting, guarding, parrying, etc.
      1913 webster

            they fence and push, and, pushing, loudly roar;
            their dewlaps and their sides are bat?ed in gore.
                                                  --dryden.
      1913 webster

            as when a billow, blown against,
            falls back, the voice with which i fenced
            a little ceased, but recommenced.     --tennyson.
      1913 webster

[4] : WordNet (r) 2.0

fence
     n 1: a barrier that serves to enclose an area syn: fencing
     2: a dealer in stolen property
     v 1: enclose with a fence; "we fenced in our yard" syn: fence
          in
     2: receive stolen goods
     3: fight with fencing swords
     4: surround with a wall in order to fortify syn: wall, palisade,
         fence in, surround
     5: have an argument about something syn: argue, contend, debate
see also:
fencing fence in wall palisade fence in surround 
argue contend debate 

[5] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

309 moby thesaurus words for "fence":
   abatis, about the bush, advanced work, arch dam, arm, armor,
   armor-plate, around the bush, avoid, backstop, baffle, balistraria,
   balustrade, bamboo curtain, bank, banquette, bar, barbed wire,
   barbed-wire entanglement, barbican, barrage, barricade, barrier,
   bartizan, bastion, battle, battlement, bear-trap dam, beat about,
   beat around, beaver dam, beg the question, bicker, black-market,
   black-marketeer, bless, block, blockade, boggle, boom, bootleg,
   bound, boundary, box, brawl, breakwater, breastwork, brick wall,
   broil, buffer, bulkhead, bulkhead in, bulwark, cage, casemate,
   castellate, cavil, center, champion, cheval-de-frise, choplogic,
   circumscribe, circumvallation, clash, cloak, close, cofferdam,
   collide, combat, come to blows, compass about, compromise, confine,
   contend, contest, contravallation, coop, copyright, corral,
   counterscarp, cover, crenellate, curtain, cushion, cut and thrust,
   dam, defend, defense, demibastion, dig in, dike, ditch, dodge,
   drawbridge, duck, duel, earthwork, embankment, embattle, encircle,
   enclose, enclosure, ensure, entanglement, entrench, equivocate,
   escarp, escarpment, evade, evade the issue, exchange blows, feint,
   fences, fend, fend off, feud, fieldwork, fight, fight a duel, foil,
   fortalice, fortification, fortify, garrison, gate, give and take,
   give satisfaction, glacis, golden mean, grapple, grapple with,
   gravity dam, groin, guarantee, guard, half measures,
   half-and-half measures, halfway measures, happy medium, harbor,
   haven, hedge, hedgerow, hem, hem and haw, hoarding,
   hydraulic-fill dam, immure, impartial, indecisive, independent,
   insure, iron curtain, irresolute, jam, jetty, jostle, joust, keep,
   keep from harm, leaping weir, levee, logjam, loophole, lunette,
   machicolation, make safe, man, man the garrison, maneuver,
   mantelet, mean, medium, merlon, mew, middle course, middle ground,
   middle way, milldam, mine, mix it up, moat, moderantism,
   moderate position, moderateness, moderation, moderatism, mole,
   moonshine, mound, mystify, nestle, neutral, neutral ground,
   nitpick, obscure, on the fence, outwit, outwork, pale, paling,
   palisade, palter, parados, parapet, parry, patent, pen, pick nits,
   picket, police, portcullis, postern gate, prevaricate, protect,
   pull away, pull back, push, pussyfoot, put off, qualify, quarrel,
   quibble, rail, railing, rampart, rassle, ravelin, receiver, recoil,
   redan, redoubt, register, restrict, retaining wall,
   ride shotgun for, riot, roadblock, rock-fill dam, run a tilt,
   safeguard, sally port, scarp, sconce, scramble, screen, scuffle,
   seawall, secure, separate, sheer off, shelter, shield, shift,
   shift off, shilly-shally, shirk, shove, shrink, shroud, shuffle,
   shutter dam, shy, shy away, shy off, sidestep, skirmish, spar,
   split hairs, step aside, stockade, stone wall, stonewall, stop,
   strive, struggle, surround, swagman, swagsman, swerve, tenaille,
   tergiversate, third force, thrust and parry, tilt, tourney,
   trellis, tussle, unbiased, uncertain, uncommitted, undecided,
   underwrite, unprejudiced, vacillate, vacillating, vallation,
   vallum, via media, waffle, wage war, wall, war, ward off, weir,
   wicket dam, work, wrestle, zigzag fence

[6] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

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".


see also:
out-of-band zigamorph 

[7] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

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".
     
        jargon file
     
        1999-01-08
     
     
see also:
out-of-band hex zigamorph jargon file 

[8] : Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

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.
   

[9] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

fence. a building or erection between two contiguous estates, so as to 
divide them; or on the same estate, so as to divide one part from another. 
     2. fences are regulated by the local laws. in general, fences on 
boundaries are to be built on the line, and the expense, when made no more 
expensively than is required by the law, is borne equally between the 
parties. see the following cases on the subject. 2 miles, 337, 395; 2 
greenl. 72; 11 mass. 294; 3 wend. 142; 2 metc. 180; 15 conn. 526 2 miles, 
447; bouv. inst. index, h.t. 
     3. a partition fence is presumed to be the common property of both 
owners of the land. 8 b.  c. 257, 259, note a. when built upon the land of 
one of them, it is his; but if it were built equally upon the land of both, 
at their joint expense, each would be the owner in severalty of the part 
standing on his own land. 5 taunt. 20; 2 greenl. ev. 617. 

[10] : U.S. Gazetteer (1990)

fence, wi
  zip codes: 54120

Fence >> F Words
Fence, definition of term: Fence
fence_pag1.html

Fence In >> F Words
Fence In, definition of term: Fence In
fence+in_pag1.html

Ring Fence >> R Words
Ring Fence, definition of term: Ring Fence
ring+fence_pag1.html

Picket Fence >> P Words
Picket Fence, definition of term: Picket Fence
picket+fence_pag1.html