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sconcemore about sconce

sconce

 

  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Sconce  \Sconce\,  n.  [D.  schans  OD  schantse  perhaps  from  OF 
  esconse  a  hiding  place  akin  to  esconser  to  hide,  L. 
  absconsus  p.  p.  of  abscondere  See  {Abscond},  and  cf 
  {Ensconce},  {Sconce}  a  candlestick.] 
  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.  --Shak. 
 
  4.  Fig.:  The  head;  the  skull;  also  brains;  sense 
  discretion.  [Colloq.] 
 
  To  knock  him  about  the  sconce  with  a  dirty  shovel. 
  --Shak. 
 
  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.] 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Squinch  \Squinch\,  n.  [Corrupted  fr  sconce.]  (Arch.) 
  A  small  arch  thrown  across  the  corner  of  a  square  room  to 
  support  a  superimposed  mass,  as  where  an  octagonal  spire  or 
  drum  rests  upon  a  square  tower;  --  called  also  {sconce},  and 
  {sconcheon}. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  sconce 
  n  1:  a  candlestick  with  a  flat  side  to  be  hung  on  the  wall 
  2:  a  stronghold  [syn:  {redoubt}]




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