sconce

noun

1. a bracket for candles or other lights, placed on a wall, mirror, picture frame, etc.
2. the hole or socket of a candlestick, for holding the candle.

noun

1. Fortification. a small detached fort or defense work, as to defend a pass, bridge, etc.
2. a protective screen or shelter.

verb (used with object), sconced, sconc·ing.

3. Fortification. to protect with a sconce.
4. Obsolete. to protect; shelter.

verb (used with object), sconced, sconc·ing.

1. (at English universities, especially formerly) to fine (an undergraduate) for a breach of rules or etiquette.

noun

2. a fine so imposed.

noun

1. the head or skull.
2. sense or wit.

noun

1. a bracket fixed to a wall for holding candles or lights
2. a flat candlestick with a handle

noun

1. a small protective fortification, such as an earthwork

verb (tr)

1. to challenge (a fellow student) on the grounds of a social misdemeanour to drink a large quantity of beer without stopping
2. obsolete to fine (a student) for some minor misdemeanour

noun

3. the act of sconcing
4. a mug or tankard used in sconcing

noun archaic

1. the head or skull
2. sense, brain, or wit

n.late 14c., “candlestick with a screen,” a shortening of Old French esconse “lantern, hiding place,” from Medieval Latin sconsa, from Latin absconsa, fem. past participle of abscondere “to hide” (see abscond). Meaning “metal bracket-candlestick fastened to a wall” is recorded from mid-15c.