worm fence

American  

noun

1. Chiefly Midland U.S. snake fence.

---

Etymology

Origin of worm fence

An Americanism dating back to 1645–55

Example Sentences

But only a moment, for he turned quickly away, the tears starting to his eyes, walked rapidly through the woods, climbed the worm fence beyond, and dropped, sobbing, in the thick bluegrass.

From The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come by Fox, John

One of the figures in the foreground was a dead Confederate boy, lying in the angle of a worm fence.

From The Creed of the Old South 1865-1915 by Gildersleeve, Basil L. (Basil Lanneau)

The same effect was further aided and preserved by the cumbrous and unseemly worm fence that shot forth its stiff angles around the tract.

From Horse-Shoe Robinson A Tale of the Tory Ascendency by Kennedy, John Pendleton

A tuft of oxeye daisies in the shelter of a ruinous worm fence attracted him, and he reined the cob from the highway to fetch them.

From The Henchman by Luther, Mark Lee

I rode in advance, and found that about a half mile ahead there was a little knoll of cleared land, comparatively dry, and skirted by a high, worm fence of good oak rails.

From Campaign of Battery D, First Rhode Island light artillery. by Parker, Ezra Knight