fence

1. A structure serving as an enclosure, a barrier, or a boundary, usually made of posts or stakes joined together by boards, wire, or rails.
2. The art or sport of fencing.
3. 1. One who receives and sells stolen goods.
   2. A place where stolen goods are received and sold.
4. Archaic. A means of defense; a protection.

1. To enclose with or as if with a fence. See synonyms at enclose.
2. To separate or close off by or as if by means of a fence.
3. 1. To ward off; keep away.
   2. To defend.
4. To sell (stolen goods) to a fence.

1. To practice the art or sport of fencing.
2. To use tactics similar to the parry and thrust of fencing.
3. To avoid giving direct answers; hedge.
4. To act as a conduit for stolen goods.

on the fence Informal.

1. Undecided as to which of two sides to support; uncommitted or neutral.

[Middle English fens, short for defens, defense. See defense.]

verb

1. To confine within a limited area. cage, coop (in or up), enclose, immure, mew (up), pen², shut in, shut up, wall (in or up). See free/unfree.
2. To separate with or as if with a wall: partition, wall. See include/exclude.

Definition: dodge; beat around the bush
Antonyms: face, meet

v

Definition: enclose, separate an area
Antonyms: release, set free, uncoop

A barrier that defines a property line, encloses, or borders on a field, a yard, or the like. For illustrations and definitions of specific types, see barbed-wire fence, board fence, chain-link fence, picket fence, plank fence,post-and-rail fence, rail fence, split-rail fence, sunk fence, Virginia rail fence, worm fence, zigzag fence.

Enclosures composed of any substance that will present an adequate blockade around a field, yard, or other such expanse of land for the purpose of prohibiting intrusions from outside.

A landowner is entitled to construct a fence along the boundaries of his or her property, but statutes may regulate the building and maintenance of fences. The laws of some states make provisions for the establishment of fence districts to erect and maintain fences. Fence districts are sometimes given the authority to levy taxes to absorb the costs of building and maintaining the fences.

Generally a landowner has the right to construct a partition fence on the border of the property adjoining his or her land. Owners of adjoining land may enter into agreements setting forth their rights and liabilities regarding the erection, maintenance, and repair of partition fences. State statutes sometimes govern landowners' obligations with respect to such fences. Such statutes differ from one jurisdiction to another regarding what lands come within the scope of their regulation. Some of these statutes apply solely to agricultural lands, whereas others also control fences between urban lots. Unless otherwise provided by statute or agreement to the contrary, both parties share equally the duty to maintain the entire partition fence. Neither may allege that the other was neglectful. Various statutes permit a landowner to construct or repair the partition fence in its entirety upon a failure of an adjacent owner to build or repair his or her portion. Subsequently, the one owner may bring an action against the neighbor for a contribution toward the expenses incurred. Generally recovery is limited to half the expense of the fence. Some fence statutes provide that the amount recoverable from a defaulting property owner is made a lien on that owner's land.

Theoretically, the ideal location for a partition fence is along the boundary line between adjacent lands. Practically, substantial compliance with this requirement is adequate. An equal and reasonable amount of each owner's property may be used for construction of the structure.

A partition fence built on the boundary is deemed the joint property of adjacent landowners. For this reason, a property owner may not eliminate a partition fence without first obtaining the neighbor's consent. The laws of some states make removal of a partition fence by an owner of adjoining land contingent upon formal notice to other landowners. A landowner may bring an action for whatever damages are suffered if a fence has been improperly removed or destroyed. The standard for measuring damages for such removal or destruction is its value at the time, which is determined by replacement costs minus depreciation for age and use.

A property owner who causes injury to livestock through negligent maintenance of a fence will be held liable for resulting damages. A landowner who erects a barbed wire fence is not automatically liable to one whose livestock suffer injury. If, however, a barbed wire fence is so negligently maintained as to become a trap for passing livestock, the owner will be held liable for injuries even if the fence is entirely on his or her own property. A landowner who leaves barbed wire on the ground without protection after erecting a fence is liable to the owner of the adjacent land for injury to that owner's livestock.

If someone builds a fence on another person's land without any authority to do so, the landowner may remove or destroy such fence. An individual may not, however, remove or destroy a fence on another individual's land. A number of states impose criminal penalties on an individual who unlawfully fences the land of another.

See: adjoining landowners.

An outdoor partition made of timber, wire or other material effective in keeping animals apart.

• introductory f. — one that will keep animals apart but which is pervious enough, e.g. made of wire netting, that there is plenty of opportunity for visual, olfactory and licking contact of new introductions before actually co-mingling them.

A fence is a blockage, but it is also protection. Dream fences are sometimes symbolic of certain common verbal expressions, such as feeling "fenced in" and "straddling the fence."

This article is about the structure. For other uses, see Fence (disambiguation).

A fence in Westtown Township, Pennsylvania.

A fence is a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary. It is generally distinguished from a wall by the lightness of its construction: a wall is usually restricted to such barriers made from solid brick or concrete, blocking vision as well as passage (though the definitions overlap somewhat).

Fences are constructed for several purposes, including:

• Agricultural fencing, to keep livestock in or predators out
• Privacy fencing, to provide privacy
• Temporary fencing, to provide safety and security, and to direct movement, wherever temporary access control is required, especially on building and construction sites
• Perimeter fencing, to prevent trespassing or theft and/or to keep children and pets from wandering away.
• Decorative fencing, to enhance the appearance of a property, garden or other landscaping
• Boundary fencing, to demarcate a piece of real property

Contents 1 Types 2 Requirement of use 3 Legal issues 3.1 History 3.2 United Kingdom 3.3 United States 4 Quotations 5 See also 6 References

Types

Typical agricultural barbed wire fencing.

Split-rail fencing common in timber-rich areas.

Various types of fencing include:

• Aluminum
• Barbed wire fence
• Cactus fence
• Chain link fencing, sometimes called "wire netting"
• Concrete fence, easy to install and highly durable
• Chicken wire, light wire mesh for keeping predators out and chickens or other small livestock in
• Dry-stone wall or rock fence, often agricultural
• Electric fence
• Ha-ha (or sunken fence)
• Hedgerows of intertwined, living shrubs (constructed by hedge laying)
• High tensile smooth wire
• Hurdle fencing, made from moveable sections
• Live fencing is the use of live woody species for fences.
• Palisade
• Pest-exclusion fence
• Pet fence Underground Fence for pet containment
• Picket fences, generally a waist-high, painted, partially decorative fence
• Pool fence
• Post-and-rail fencing
• Roundpole fences, similar to post and rail fencing but more closely spaced rails, typical of Scandinavia and other areas rich in raw timber.
  

  

  Slate fencing in Mid-Wales
• Slate fence, a type of palisade made of vertical slabs of slate wired together. Commonly used in parts of Wales.
• Snow fence
• Spear-top fence
• Split-rail fences made of timber, often laid in a zig-zag pattern, particularly in newly-settled parts of the United States and Canada
• Stake-and-wire fencing
• Turf mounds in semiarid grasslands such as the western United States or Russian steppes`
• Temporary fencing
• Vinyl fencing
• Wattle fencing, of split branches woven between stakes, or of moveable wattle hurdles.
• Wood-panel fencing
• Woven wire fencing, many designs, from fine Chicken wire to heavy mesh "sheep fence" or "ring fence"
• Wrought iron fencing, made from tube steel, also known as ornamental iron.

Alternatives to fencing are a hedge or a ditch (sometimes filled with water, forming a moat).

A balustrade or railing is a kind of fence to prevent people from falling over the edge, for example, on a balcony, stairway (see railing system), roof, bridge, or elsewhere near a body of water, places where people stand or walk and the terrain goes steeply down, and so on.

Requirement of use

Typical perimeter fence with barbed wire on top.

The following types of areas or facilities often have to be fenced in:

• facilities with open high-voltage equipment (transformer stations, mast radiators). Transformer stations are usually surrounded with barbed-wire fences. Around mast radiators, wooden fences are used to avoid the problem of eddy currents.
• railway lines (in the United Kingdom)
• fixed machinery with dangerous mobile parts (for example at merry go rounds on entertainment parks)
• explosive factories and quarry stores
• most industrial plants
• airfields
• military areas
• prisons
• zoos and wildlife parks
• Pastures containing male breeding animals, notably bulls and stallions.
• open-air areas that charge an entry fee
• domestic swimming and spa pools

Legal issues

A typical urban fence.

Decorative palace fence (in St Petersburg)

Fences can be the source of bitter arguments between neighbours, and there are often special laws to deal with these problems. Common disagreements include what kind of fence is required, what kind of repairs are needed, and how to share the costs.

In some legislatures the standard height of a fence is limited, and to exceed it a special permit is required.

History

Servitudes are legal arrangements of land use arising out of private agreements. Under the feudal system, most land in England was cultivated in common fields, where peasants were allocated strips of arable land that were used to support the needs of the local village or manor. By the sixteenth century the growth of population and prosperity provided incentives for landowners to use their land in more profitable ways, dispossessing the peasantry. Common fields were aggregated and enclosed by large and enterprising farmers -- either through negotiation among one another or by lease from the landlord -- to maximize the productivity of the available land and contain livestock. Fences redefined the means by which land is used, resulting in the modern law of servitudes.^[1]

A wattle fence at Sanok-Skansen outdoor museum in Poland

In the United States, the earliest settlers claimed land by simply fencing it in. Later, as the American government formed, unsettled land became technically owned by the government and programs to register land ownership developed, usually making raw land available for low prices or for free, if the owner improved the property, including the construction of fences. However, the remaining vast tracts of unsettled land were often used as a commons, or, in the American west, "open range." As degradation of habitat developed due to overgrazing and a tragedy of the commons situation arose, common areas began to either be allocated to individual landowners via mechanisms such as the Homestead Act and Desert Land Act and fenced in, or, if kept in public hands, leased to individual users for limited purposes, with fences built to separate tracts of public and private land.

United Kingdom

Ownership of the fence varies. In some parts of the country all boundaries are shared; in other parts of the country you may own the boundary on the left-hand or right-hand side, however, only the title deeds can be depended on to tell you which side is yours. (A 'T' symbol indicates who is the owner). It used to be normal for the cladding to be on the non-owners side (enabling access to the posts for the owner when repairs need doing), but increasingly this cannot be depended on.

Where a fence or hedge has an adjacent ditch, the ditch is normally in the same ownership as the hedge or fence, with the ownership boundary being the edge of the ditch furthest from the fence or hedge^[2]. The principle of the rule is that an owner digging a boundary ditch will normally dig it up to the very edge of their land, and must then pile the spoil on their own side of the ditch to avoid trespassing on their neighbour. They may then erect a fence or hedge on the spoil, leaving the ditch on its far side. Exceptions often occur, for example where a plot of land derives from subdivision of a larger one along the centre line of a previously existing ditch or other feature.

On private land in the United Kingdom, it is the landowner's responsibility to fence their livestock in. Conversely, for common land, it is the surrounding landowners' responsibility to fence the common's livestock out.

Five foot high fences (over which many people can see and talk) are increasingly being superseded by six-foot fences giving the impression of complete privacy.

United States

Distinctly different land ownership and fencing patterns arose in the eastern and western United States. Original fence laws on the east coast were based on the British common law system, and rapidly increasing population quickly resulted in laws requiring livestock to be fenced in. In the west, land ownership patterns and policies reflected a strong influence of Spanish law and tradition, plus the vast land area involved made extensive fencing impractical until mandated by a growing population and conflicts between landowners. The "open range" tradition of requiring landowners to fence out unwanted livestock was dominant in most of the rural west until very late in the 20th century, and even today, a few isolated regions of the west still have open range statutes on the books. Today, across the nation, each state is free to develop its own laws regarding fences, but in most cases for both rural and urban property owners, the laws are designed to require adjacent landowners to share the responsibility for maintaining a common boundary fenceline, and the fence is generally constructed on the surveyed property line as precisely as possible.

Quotations

Wrought iron fencing is often used in historic districts and to surround cemeteries.

"Good fences make good neighbors." - Robert Frost (ironically, in the poem "Mending Wall").

"A good neighbour is a fellow who smiles at you over the back fence, but doesn't climb over it." - Arthur Baer

"There is something about jumping a horse over a fence, something that makes you feel good. Perhaps it's the risk, the gamble. In any event it's a thing I need." - William Faulkner

"Fear is the highest fence." - Dudley Nichols

"What have they done to the earth?/ What have they done to our fair sister?/ Ravaged and plundered/ and ripped her/ and bit her/ stuck her with knives/ in the side of the dawn/ and tied her with fences/ and dragged her down." - Jim Morrison, of The Doors

"Don't Fence Me In (song)" - Cole Porter

See also

• Separation wall
• United States–Mexico barrier
• Agricultural fencing
• Electric fence
• Wire obstacle
• Temporary fencing

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fences

• Encyclopedia Britannica (1982). Vol IV, Fence.
• Elizabeth Agate: Fencing, British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, ISBN 094675229X

1. ^ Jesse Dukeminer et al., Property, pp. 668-70 (6th ed. 2006)
2. ^ Lawrence J. in Vowles v. Miller (1810) 3 Taunt. 137, 138, quoted in Alan Wibberley Building Limited v. Insley, House of Lords Judgement (1999)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - hegn, gærde
v. tr. - indhegne, sætte hegn om
v. intr. - fægte, yde beskyttelse, vige udenom

idioms:

• fence in    indhegne
• fence off    afværge
• mend fences    gøre det godt igen
• sit on the fence    indtage en afventende holdning

Nederlands (Dutch)
hek, omheining, heler, meter (in een machine), helen, omheinen, afweren, verdedigen, over hindernissen springen (paard), schermen, ruzie oplossen door van grond te veranderen

Français (French)
n. - clôture, enclos, receleur, obstacle (course de chevaux), (Tech) protection
v. tr. - clôturer, fourguer
v. intr. - se dérober, receler des marchandises, (Sport) faire de l'escrime

idioms:

• fence in    clôturer, parquer, (fig) étouffer
• fence off    clôturer qch
• mend fences    se raccommoder (avec)
• on the fence    (être) indécis, (être) neutre, (être) désengagé
• sit on the fence    ne pas prendre position

Deutsch (German)
n. - Zaun, Hindernis, Hehler
v. - einzäunen, (ab)sichern, fechten

idioms:

• fence in    umzäunen
• fence off    abzäunen
• mend fences    die Beziehungen verbessern
• on the fence    sich nicht einmischen, sich neutral verhalten
• sit on the fence    sich neutral verhalten

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - φράκτης, φράγμα, ξιφομαχία, ξιφασκία, (καθομ.) κλεπταποδόχος
v. - (περι)φράσσω, ξιφομαχώ, αποδέχομαι ή πουλώ κλοπιμαία, υπεκφεύγω (κν. τα γυρίζω)

idioms:

• fence in    περικλείω
• fence off    χωρίζω με φράχτη
• mend fences    αποκαθιστώ διαταραγμένες σχέσεις
• sit on the fence    μένω αναποφάσιστος, καιροσκοπώ

Italiano (Italian)
ricettare, tirare di scherma, recinto, reticolato, ricettatore

idioms:

• fence in    recintare, recingere
• fence off    respingere, difendere, proteggere
• mend fences    porre riparo
• sit on the fence    mantenersi neutrale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - cercado (m), esgrima (Esp.)
v. - cercar, proteger, esgrimir

idioms:

• fence in    cercar
• fence off    separar com um cercado
• mend fences    fazer as pazes
• sit on the fence    não tomar partido em discussão

Русский (Russian)
огораживать, увиливать, фехтовать, торговать краденым, забор, препятствие, торговец краденым

idioms:

• fence in    обнести стеной
• fence off    обнести стеной, выгораживать
• mend fences    укреплять (политическую) позицию, восстановить дружеские отношения
• sit on the fence    сохранять нейтралитет

Español (Spanish)
n. - cerca, cercado, alambrada, valla, vallado, comerciante de cosas robadas, depósito de objetos robados
v. tr. - cercar, vallar, luchar
v. intr. - practicar la esgrima, defenderse hábilmente, saltar vallas

idioms:

• fence in    cercar, encerrar, arrinconar, acorralar, limitar
• fence off    separar con una cerca
• mend fences    mejorar las relaciones, limar asperezas
• on the fence    estar indeciso
• sit on the fence    nadar entre dos aguas, neutral, que no se define

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - stängsel, fäktning, hälare (sl.), tjuvgömma
v. - inhägna, skydda, handla med tjuvgods, fäkta, slingra sig (bildl.), sätta upp inhägnader, ta ett hinder (om häst), vara hälare (sl.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
围墙, 剑术, 栅栏, 用篱笆围住, 防护, 练习剑术, 击剑, 搪塞

idioms:

• fence in    以栅栏或铁丝网围着
• fence off    用栅栏或篱笆等隔开
• mend fences    修补篱笆, 修复友好关系
• sit on the fence    持观望态度

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 圍牆, 劍術, 柵欄
v. tr. - 用籬笆圍住, 防護, 練習劍術
v. intr. - 擊劍, 搪塞

idioms:

• fence in    以柵欄或鐵絲網圍著
• fence off    用柵欄或籬笆等隔開
• mend fences    修補籬笆, 修復友好關係
• sit on the fence    持觀望態度

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 울타리, 담장
v. tr. - ~에 울타리를 치다
v. intr. - 울타리를 뛰어넘다

idioms:

• fence in    둘러싸다
• fence off    막아내다, 받아넘기다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 囲い, 柵, 垣根, 故買人
v. - 囲いをする, 受け流す, フェンシングをする

idioms:

• fence in    囲い込む, 自由を制限する
• fence off    囲いで仕切る, 受け流す

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) سياج (فعل) يسيج‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮גדר, סוחר בסחורה גנובה, מדריך למכונות‬
v. tr. - ‮הקים גדר מסביב, הגן‬
v. intr. - ‮הסתייף, סייף, נמנע מלענות, דילג מעל גדר‬

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