fence in

Idioms  

1. Also, hem in. Restrict or confine someone, as in He wanted to take on more assignments but was fenced in by his contract, or Their father was old-fashioned and the children were hemmed in by his rules. Both expressions transfer a literal form of enclosure to a figurative one. The first gained currency from a popular song in the style of a cowboy folk song by Cole Porter, “Don't Fence Me In” (1944), in which the cowboy celebrates open land and starry skies. The variant is much older, dating from the late 1500s.

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Example Sentences

Images on social media showed a person scaling the fence in a costume that included a smiley face head with sunglasses, prompting the monkeys to scatter.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

In the top of the sixth, he broke a 3-3 tie by sending a hanging slider from closer Jack Champlin over the fence in left field for a two-run home run.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026

Chesterton’s parable: If you stumble on a fence in the middle of the road, don’t take it down until you know why it’s there.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

Ahead of his speech, Netanyahu's office ordered that the Israeli military mount loudspeakers on trucks near the Gaza perimeter fence in order to broadcast his words live across the territory.

From BBC • Sep. 26, 2025

It was Fiver who was clambering over him, clawing and grabbing like a rabbit trying to climb a wire fence in a panic.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Related Words

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• remand