ring-fence
Britishverb
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to assign (money, a grant, fund, etc) to one particular purpose, so as to restrict its use
to ring-fence a financial allowance
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to oblige (a person or organization) to use money for a particular purpose
to ring-fence a local authority
noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The EU wants a broader "metals alliance" with Washington to ring-fence their respective economies from Chinese overcapacity.
From Barron's ● Nov. 24, 2025
To rebuild trust with its public sector clients, PwC in May agreed to ring-fence its government consulting business and appoint a separate board.
From Reuters ● Jun. 26, 2023
Since January 2019 banks have had to ring-fence their deposit-taking arms with a cushion of capital to insulate them against blow-ups in their riskier activities.
From Reuters ● Dec. 9, 2022
The watchdog has dropped a plan to ring-fence customers' credit balances - which build up when direct debits are higher than energy used.
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2022
I am buying the freehold of the meadow at Gad's, and of an adjoining arable field, so that I shall now have about eight-and-twenty freehold acres in a ring-fence.
From The Letters of Charles Dickens Vol. 2, 1857-1870 by Dickens, Mamie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
