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

Nearby fields were littered with broken deckchairs, scraps of fiberglass insulation and pieces of wire fencing ripped apart by the fierce winds that struck the village and its surroundings.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Since the 12th century BC, fencing has been a source of both combat and entertainment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Olympic trials and was recruited to Northwestern University’s Division 1 fencing team.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

The house was protected by temporary fencing on Saturday.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

My body felt strange in the neutral fencing position with my knees bent and pointed outward.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

A great new boon to the home gardener they are, these wire fencings and nettings.

From The Amateur Garden by George Washington Cable

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

From Poems — Volume 3 by George Meredith

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 William Carleton

The air, which had before been charged with little suspicions, toy fencings, as it were, between people of no great importance, was now informed with something more pressing, more imminent, more real.

From A Butterfly on the Wheel by Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull

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 Edward Berdoe