What is "fence"

Fence \Fence\ (f[e^]ns), n. [Abbrev. from defence.]

1. That which fends off attack or danger; a defense; a protection; a cover; security; shield.

   Let us be backed with God and with the seas, Which he hath given for fence impregnable.
   --Shak.

   A fence betwixt us and the victor's wrath.
   --Addison.

2. An inclosure about a field or other space, or about any object; especially, an inclosing structure of wood, iron, or other material, intended to prevent intrusion from without or straying from within.

   Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold.
   --Milton.

   Note: In England a hedge, ditch, or wall, as well as a structure of boards, palings, or rails, is called a fence.

3. (Locks) A projection on the bolt, which passes through the tumbler gates in locking and unlocking.

4. Self-defense by the use of the sword; the art and practice of fencing and sword play; hence, skill in debate and repartee. See Fencing.

   Enjoy your dear wit, and gay rhetoric, That hath so well been taught her dazzing fence.
   --Milton.

   Of dauntless courage and consummate skill in fence.
   --Macaulay.

5. A receiver of stolen goods, or a place where they are received. [Slang]
   --Mayhew.

   Fence month (Forest Law), the month in which female deer are fawning, when hunting is prohibited.
   --Bullokar.

   Fence roof, a covering for defense. ``They fitted their shields close to one another in manner of a fence roof.''
   --Holland.

   Fence time, the breeding time of fish or game, when they should not be killed.

   Rail fence, a fence made of rails, sometimes supported by posts.

   Ring fence, a fence which encircles a large area, or a whole estate, within one inclosure.

   Worm fence, a zigzag fence composed of rails crossing one another at their ends; -- called also snake fence, or Virginia rail fence.

   To be on the fence, to be undecided or uncommitted in respect to two opposing parties or policies. [Colloq.]

Fence \Fence\, v. i.

1. To make a defense; to guard one's self of anything, as against an attack; to give protection or security, as by a fence.

   Vice is the more stubborn as well as the more dangerous evil, and therefore, in the first place, to be fenced against.
   --Locke.

2. To practice the art of attack and defense with the sword or with the foil, esp. with the smallsword, using the point only.

   He will fence with his own shadow.
   --Shak.

3. Hence, to fight or dispute in the manner of fencers, that is, by thrusting, guarding, parrying, etc.

   They fence and push, and, pushing, loudly roar; Their dewlaps and their sides are bat?ed in gore.
   --Dryden.

   As when a billow, blown against, Falls back, the voice with which I fenced A little ceased, but recommenced.
   --Tennyson.

Fence \Fence\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fenced (f[e^]nst); p. pr. & vb. n. Fencing (f[e^]n"s[i^]ng).]

1. To fend off danger from; to give security to; to protect; to guard.

   To fence my ear against thy sorceries.
   --Milton.

2. To inclose with a fence or other protection; to secure by an inclosure.

   O thou wall! . . . dive in the earth, And fence not Athens.
   --Shak.

   A sheepcote fenced about with olive trees.
   --Shak.

   To fence the tables (Scot. Church), to make a solemn address to those who present themselves to commune at the Lord's supper, on the feelings appropriate to the service, in order to hinder, so far as possible, those who are unworthy from approaching the table.
   --McCheyne.

early 15c., "defend" (oneself); mid-15c. as "protect with a hedge or fence;" from fence (n.). From 1590s as "fight with swords," from the noun in this sense (1530s); see fencing. From 1610s as "knowingly buy or sell stolen goods." Related: Fenced.

early 14c., "action of defending, resistance; means of protection, fortification," shortening of defens (see defense). The same pattern also yielded fend, fender; and obsolete fensive "defensive" (late 16c.). Spelling alternated between -c- and -s- in Middle English. Sense of "enclosure" is first recorded mid-15c. on notion of "that which serves as a defense." Sense of "dealer in stolen goods" is thieves' slang, first attested c.1700, from notion of such transactions taking place under defense of secrecy.\n

\nTo be figuratively on the fence "uncommitted" is from 1828, perhaps from the notion of spectators at a fight, or a simple literal image: "A man sitting on the top of a fence, can jump down on either side with equal facility." [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848].

n. A thin, human-constructed barrier which separates two pieces of land or a house perimeter. vb. 1 (lb en transitive) To enclose, contain or separate by building fence. 2 (lb en transitive) To defend or guard. 3 (lb en transitive) To engage in the selling or buying of stolen goods. 4 (lb en intransitive sports) To engage in (the sport) fencing. 5 (lb en intransitive equestrianism) To jump over a fence.

1. v. enclose with a fence; "we fenced in our yard" [syn: fence in]

2. receive stolen goods

3. fight with fencing swords

4. surround with a wall in order to fortify [syn: wall, palisade, fence in, surround]

5. have an argument about something [syn: argue, contend, debate]

1. n. a barrier that serves to enclose an area [syn: fencing]

2. a dealer in stolen property

A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length.

Alternatives to fencing include a ditch (sometimes filled with water, forming a moat).

A fence a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of posts and wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a boundary.

Fence may also refer to:

A fence is a straight edge that is placed parallel to the direction of the cut saw blade. It is rigidly connected to the saw or table. The distance between the surface of the fence and the closest edge of the saw blade dictates the specified width of the cut. Material that is being cut is held tight against the fence in order to ensure that it is cut to the specified width.

A fence or receiver is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the behaviour of the thief in the transaction: The burglar fenced the stolen radio. This sense of the term came from thieves' slang, first attested c. 1700, from the notion of such transactions providing a defence against being caught.

The fence is able to make a profit with stolen merchandise because he/she is able to pay thieves a very low price for stolen goods. They then disguise the stolen nature of the goods, if possible, so that they can sell them closer to the white market price. This process often relies on a legal business conducting legal sales. Fencing is illegal in all countries, but legally proving a violation of anti-fencing laws can be difficult.

Fence is a print and online literary publication containing both original work and critical and journalistic coverage of what may be largely termed "experimental" or "avant garde" material. Conceived by Rebecca Wolff in 1997 and first printed in Spring 1998 (receiving coverage from Poets & Writers), its editors have included Jonathan Lethem and Ben Marcus (fiction), Matthew Rohrer and Caroline Crumpacker (poetry), and Frances Richard (non-fiction).

Fence is published biannually. The translator and National Book Award-nominated poet Cole Swensen edits La Presse, an imprint of Fence magazine publishing contemporary French poetry in translation.

Fence is currently affiliated with the New York State Writers Institute at SUNY Albany. Its book publishing arm, Fence Books, has printed volumes by a number of younger non-traditional poets. Fence has also joined with McSweeney's, Wave Books and Open City to distribute content at bigsmallpress; it also runs The Constant Critic, an online reviews site.

In mathematics, a fence, also called a zigzag poset, is a partially ordered set in which the order relations form a path with alternating orientations:

or

A fence may be finite, or it may be formed by an infinite alternating sequence extending in both directions. The incidence posets of path graphs form examples of fences.

A linear extension of a fence is called an alternating permutation; André's problem of counting the number of different linear extensions has been studied since the 19th century. The solutions to this counting problem, the so-called Euler zigzag numbers or up/down numbers, are

The number of antichains in a fence is a Fibonacci number; the distributive lattice with this many elements, generated from a fence via Birkhoff's representation theorem, has as its graph the Fibonacci cube.

A partially ordered set is series-parallel if and only if it does not have four elements forming a fence.

Several authors have also investigated the number of order-preserving maps from fences to themselves, or to fences of other sizes.

An up-down poset Q(a,b) is a generalization of a zigzag poset in which there are a downward orientations for every upward one and b total elements. For instance, Q(2,9) has the elements and relations

In this notation, a fence is a partially ordered set of the form Q(1,n).

Fence (also known as a Dutch Rudder) is an investment strategy that uses options to limit the range of possible returns on a financial instrument.

A fence consists of the following elements:

• long position in a financial instrument (e.g. a share, index or currency)
• long put (normally with a strike price close to or at the current spot price of the financial instrument)
• short put (with a strike price lower than the bought put - e.g. 80% of the current spot price)
• short call (with a strike price higher than the current spot price).

The expiration dates of all the options are usually the same. The call strike is normally chosen in such a way that the sum total of the three option premiums are equal to zero.

This investment strategy will ensure that the value of the investment at expiry will be between the strike price on the short call and the strike price on the long put. Thus possible gains and losses (the value of the financial instrument minus the cost of acquiring it) are confined to a specified range.

However, if the price of the financial instrument falls below the strike level of the sold put the investor will start participating in any further price declines of the financial instrument.