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

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

“You don’t have a sense of ‘land of the free’ here,” said Melissa McFarlane, 61, standing along the fencing on the Mall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

No one was talking about anything but fencing.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

His blockings, hedgings, and fencings have spoiled the expanse of hillside and vale in much the same manner as in Albion.

From The Cathedrals of Southern France by Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)

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

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 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

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