What is "sconcing"

Sconce \Sconce\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sconced; p. pr. & vb. n. Sconcing.]

1. To shut up in a sconce; to imprison; to insconce. [Obs.]

   Immure him, sconce him, barricade him in 't.
   --Marston.

2. To mulct; to fine. [Obs.]
   --Milton.

vb. (present participle of sconce English)

Sconcing is a tradition at Oxford University of demanding that a person drink a tankard of ale or some other alcoholic beverage as a penalty for some breach of accepted etiquette. Originally the penalty would have been a simple monetary fine imposed for a more serious breach of discipline, and the word is known to have been used in this sense as early as 1617.

Minor offences for which a sconce might have been imposed included talking at dinner about women, religion, politics or one's work, referring to the portraits hung in the college hall, or making an error in the pronunciation of the Latin Grace.