worm fence

American  

noun

1. Chiefly Midland U.S. snake fence.

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Etymology

Origin of worm fence

An Americanism dating back to 1645–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

worm fence

The old worm fence was distinctly American; it had a zigzag series of chestnut rails, with stakes of twisted cedar saplings which were sometimes "chunked" by moss-covered boulders just peeping from the earth.

From Old-Time Gardens Newly Set Forth by Earle, Alice Morse

When he reached the worm fence of the hemp field, he threw his load from his shoulder upon the topmost rail, and, holding it there with one hand, climbed over.

From The Reign of Law; a tale of the Kentucky hemp fields by Allen, James Lane

Allemand, the pilot, had lost his head and was steering a course crooked as a worm fence.

From Heralds of Empire Being the Story of One Ramsay Stanhope, Lieutenant to Pierre Radisson in the Northern Fur Trade by Laut, Agnes C. (Agnes Christina)

I rode in advance, and found that about a half mile ahead there was a little knoll of cleared land, comparatively dry, and skirted by a high, worm fence of good oak rails.

From Campaign of Battery D, First Rhode Island light artillery. by Parker, Ezra Knight

A worm fence stretched along the road broken by two battered gate posts, and between the road and the house, the lane was crossed by a second fence and gate.

From The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth by Townsend, George Alfred