ring-fence
Britishverb
-
to assign (money, a grant, fund, etc) to one particular purpose, so as to restrict its use
to ring-fence a financial allowance
-
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
It was the first government to ring-fence this sort of money for projects in places like Malawi.
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2023
Top diplomat Wang Yi rejected Kerry's plea to ring-fence climate from broader bilateral disputes, saying climate "cannot be separated from the overall environment of Sino-U.S. relations".
From Reuters ● Jul. 20, 2023
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
It seemed clear that Verloren Vlei lay within a ring-fence of utterly inaccessible cliff wall.
From Tales of South Africa by H.A. Bryden
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.
