sconce









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.

  1. Fortification. to protect with a sconce.
  2. 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

  1. 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

  1. the act of sconcing
  2. 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.

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