Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Sconce
Sconce
,Noun.
1.
A fortification, or work for defense; a fort.
No
sconce
or fortress of his raising was ever known either to have been forced, or yielded up, or quitted. Milton.
2.
A hut for protection and shelter; a stall.
One that . . . must raise a
sconce
by the highway and sell switches. Beau. & Fl.
3.
A piece of armor for the head; headpiece; helmet.
I must get a
sconce
for my head. Shakespeare
4.
Fig.: The head; the skull; also, brains; sense; discretion.
[Colloq.]
To knock him about the
sconce
with a dirty shovel. Shakespeare
5.
A poll tax; a mulct or fine.
Johnson.
6.
[OF.
esconse
a dark lantern, properly, a hiding place. See Etymol. above.] A protection for a light; a lantern or cased support for a candle; hence, a fixed hanging or projecting candlestick.
Tapers put into lanterns or
sconces
of several-colored, oiled paper, that the wind might not annoy them. Evelyn.
Golden
sconces
hang not on the walls. Dryden.
7.
Hence, the circular tube, with a brim, in a candlestick, into which the candle is inserted.
8.
(Arch.)
A squinch.
9.
A fragment of a floe of ice.
Kane.
10.
[Perhaps a different word.]
A fixed seat or shelf.
[Prov. Eng.]
Sconce
,Verb.
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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Sconce
SCONCE
, n.1.
A fort or bulwark; a work for defense. Obs.2.
A hanging or projecting candlestick, generally with a mirror to reflect the light.Golden sconces hang upon the walls.
3.
The circular tube with a brim in a candlestick, into which the candle is inserted, that is, the support, the holder of the candle; and from this sense the candlestick, in the preceding definition, has its name.4.
A fixed seat or shelf. [Local.]SCONCE
, n.1.
Sense; judgment; discretion or understanding. This sense has been in vulgar use in New England within my memory.2.
The head; a low word.3.
A mulet or fine.SCONCE
,Verb.
T.
Definition 2024
sconce
sconce
English
A modern style of sconce.
An older style of sconce.
Noun
sconce (plural sconces)
- A light fixture.
- Evelyn
- tapers put into lanterns or sconces of several-coloured, oiled paper, that the wind might not annoy them
- Dryden
- Golden sconces hang not on the walls.
- Evelyn
- A head or a skull.
- Shakespeare
- to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel
- Shakespeare
- A poll tax; a mulct or fine.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)
- A piece of armour for the head; headpiece; helmet.
- Shakespeare
- I must get a sconce for my head.
- Shakespeare
See also
-
Sconce (light fixture) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Translations
light fixture on a wall
Verb
sconce (third-person singular simple present sconces, present participle sconcing, simple past and past participle sconced)
Etymology 2
Borrowing from Middle Dutch schans, cognate with German Schanze.[2]
Alternative forms
Noun
sconce (plural sconces)
- A type of small fort or other fortification, especially as built to defend a pass or ford.
- Milton
- No sconce or fortress of his raising was ever known either to have been forced, or yielded up, or quitted.
- Milton
- (obsolete) A hut for protection and shelter; a stall.
- Beaumont and Fletcher
- one that […] must raise a sconce by the highway and sell switches
- Beaumont and Fletcher
- The circular tube, with a brim, in a candlestick, into which the candle is inserted.
- (architecture) A squinch.
- A fragment of a floe of ice.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Kane to this entry?)
- A fixed seat or shelf.
Derived terms
Verb
sconce (third-person singular simple present sconces, present participle sconcing, simple past and past participle sconced)
- (obsolete) to shut within a sconce; to imprison.
See also
- Sconce (fortification) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
- 1 2 ensconce The Lexiteria & alphaDictionary