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

See Examples For:

fence in

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

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

A 16-year-old boy riding an electric bike suffered life-threatening injuries after crashing into a fence in Cleethorpes, police have said.

From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025

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

She was still on the fence in the spring of 2006 when she went to watch the Fugees play and to cheer Grace on.

From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John

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