Showing results for "fencing"

• present participle of fence.

fencing

American  

[fen-sing] / ˈfɛn sɪŋ /

noun

fencings plural

1. the art, practice, or sport in which an épée, foil, or saber is used for defense and attack.

2. a parrying of arguments; avoidance of direct answers.

   political fencing on important issues.

3. an enclosure or railing.

4. fences collectively.

5. material for fences.

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fencing British  

/ ˈfɛnsɪŋ /

noun

1. the practice, art, or sport of fighting with swords, esp the sport of using foils, épées, or sabres under a set of rules to score points

2. 1. wire, stakes, etc, used as fences

   2. fences collectively

3. skilful or witty debate

4. the avoidance of direct answers; evasiveness

5. slang the business of buying and selling stolen property

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fencings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fencing

1425–75; late Middle English fensing safeguarding, maintenance. See fence, -ing ¹

Explanation

Fencing is a structure that encloses a yard or area, like the fencing that keeps your dog confined. Another kind of fencing is a sport with long pointy foils that has been popular with Hamlet, Holden Caulfield, and lots of other fancy kids. You might buy enough fencing to close in your whole back yard — it could be made of wood, metal, or even plastic, and this material can also be called fencing. A completely different kind of fencing is the sport that involves combat with sword-like weapons. Fencing started as military training and a way of settling disputes, but it grew into a sport during the 18th century, and is now even included in the Olympics.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fencing fencings

From spring to late summer, they patrol beaches, check on fencing protecting nests and remove any predators such as hedgehogs.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Visitors are corralled into a walkway by the Freedom 250-branded fencing on one side and low metal barriers on the other.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

By the end of the week, the multicolored water had largely turned clear and fencing had started to go up around it in preparation for the July 4 fireworks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

Still, barbed-wire fencing and bulldozers appeared on the beach, sparking outrage against the project.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

It’s not fencing season, but the white-suited figures intimidate.

From "Black Brother, Black Brother" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

The long low stable buildings, the tall white masts and bright yellow flags, numberless white-painted cages, aviaries, outhouses, and the spotless white of the fencings and gateways, all lend it a pleasing individuality.

From The Harmsworth Magazine, v. 1, 1898-1899, No. 2 by Various

Preventive fencings with the foul intent Occult, by him observed and foiled betimes, Let fool historians chronicle as crimes.

From Poems — Volume 3 by Meredith, George

As Pascal to Escobar, so is Palestrina to Master Hugues; quibbles, shams, fencings with truth, overlay God’s gold with the cobwebs of tradition, and must be brushed away.

From The Browning Cyclop?dia A Guide to the Study of the Works of Robert Browning by Berdoe, Edward

The boxings, the rough lumber, the two by fourteen's finished, the dropped sidings and groved roofing, and lath and ceiling and rough fencings and all the rest?

From The White Desert by Fischer, Anton Otto

Ha! ha! my dearest," thought he, "I knew, notwithstanding all your beautiful startings and fencings, that matters would come to this.

From The Black Prophet: A Tale Of Irish Famine Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of William Carleton, Volume Three by Carleton, William