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

Alas, that victory was aided by a pair of crashes suffered by Kuss, the beloved Coloradan who was lucky to be saved by temporary fencing as he curled around a rocky descent.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is set to visit the frontier zone on Wednesday, where workers have in recent weeks taken down the old chain-link fencing between Gibraltar and Spain.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

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

After almost an hour, we finally got to the fencing part.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

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

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

Which infinitely quickens the shadowy rumorings and Diplomatic fencings of mankind.

From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 11 by Carlyle, Thomas

These word fencings had begun, of course, as a child would naturally have begun them, with the stilted sentences and high-flown remarks which she had lifted from Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

From The Rustle of Silk by Hamilton, Cosmo

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 Gull, Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger