fence-viewer 
fence-viewer (fens'vu'er), . An officer, or one 
of a board of officers, whose duty it is to require 
and supervise the erection and maintenance 
of boundary-fences between adjoining owners, 
or along the highway, when called upon to do 
so by any party in interest. [U. S.] 
In 1647, fence vieipcrs were appointed, by whom, in ad- 
dition to other duties, every new building had to be ap- 
proved. Johns Hopkins Univ. Stud., IV. 20. 
fencible (fen'si-bl), a. and n. [Also written/cn- 
sible n.Af ennoble; < fence + -ible; or, in other 
words, aii abbr. of defensible.] I. a. 1. Capable 
of being defended or of making defense. 
A roade . . . made very fensible with strong wals. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 132. 
First she them led up to the Castle wall, 
That was so high as foe might not it clime, 
And all so faire and fensible withall. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. ix. 21. 
Let fencible men, each party in its own range of streets, 
keep watch and ward all night. 
Carlyle, French Rev., I. v. 4. 
2. Pertaining to or composed of fencibles. 
The fencible corps were a species of militia, raised for 
the defense of particular districts, from which several of 
them could not by the conditions of their institution be 
detached. The first were raised in Argyleshire, ill 1759. 
Grose, Mil. Antiq., p. 164. 
Fencible cavalry, formerly, in England, a mounted corps 
of fencibles. They seem to have corresponded to the body 
afterward called yeomanry. 
II. n. A soldier enlisted for defense against 
invasion, and not liable to serve abroad : gen- 
erally in the plural : as, the Warwickshire fen- 
cibles. 
The most prominent of these objectionable estimates 
. . . was that of the Manx fencibles. 
Windham, Speech on Army Estimates, Feb. 26, 1806. 
fencing (fen'sing), n. [Verbal n. of fence, r., in 
its various uses.] 1. The art of using a sword 
or foil in attack and defense, or practice for im- 
provement or the exhibition of skill in that art. 
Sometimes Persons were compell'd, by the Tyranny of 
Nero, to practise the Trade of Fencing, and to fight upon 
the Stage, for his inhuman Diversion. 
Congreve, tr. of Juvenal's Satires, xi., notes. 
2. That which fences; an inclosure or fence; 
the fences collectively. 
Sussex, . . . where the fields are small and the fencing 
for the most part what is called cramped. 
Encyc. Brit., XII. 190. 
3. Specifically, a protection put round a dan- 
gerous piece of machinery; brattishing. 4. 
Material used in making fences. 
A decayed fragment or two of fencing fill the gaps in 
the bank. JttisHn, Elements of Drawing, p. 217. 
fencing-gage (fen'sing-gaj), n. A wooden 
guide used as an aid in fastening the boards of 
a wooden fence. 
2180 
3. To support ; maintain. [Scotch.] 
But there is neither bread nor kale, 
To fend my men and me. 
Border Minstrelsy, Battle of Otterbourne. 
But gi'e them guid cow-milk their fill, 
Till they be fit to fend themsel'. 
Burns, Death of Mailie. 
II. intrans. 1. To act in opposition; offer 
resistance. 2. To parry; fence. 3. To make 
provision ; give care. [Scotch.] 
I hae aye dune whate'er ye bade me, . . . and fended 
weel for ye. Scott, Old Mortality, vii. 
Ah ! but they must turn out and/end for themselves. 
George Eliot, Mill on the Floss, i. 8. 
To fend and provet, to argue and defend. 
It was a manifest sign indeed of no contentious spirit, 
and that delighted not in fending and proving, as we say. 
Strype, Memorials, III. ii. 28. 
The dexterous management of terms, and being able to 
fend and prove with them, passes for a great part of learn- 
ing ; but it is learning distinct from knowledge. Locke. 
fend 1 (fend), . [< /kJi, v.] The shift which 
one makes for one's self, whether for suste- 
nance or in any other respect ; self-defense or 
self-support. [Scotch.] 
I'm thinking wi' sic a braw fallow, 
In poortith I might mak' a fen'. 
Burns, Tarn Glen. 
I was long enough there and out I wad be, and out 
John Blower gat me, but wi' nae sma' fight and/end. 
Scott, St. Ronan's Well, xx. 
fend 2 t, ". A Middle English form of fiend. 
fendacet (fen'das), n. [OF. fendace, fendasse, 
a slit, chink, opening, < fendre, cleave, split, 
slit: see fen t.] In armor, a protection for the 
throat, afterward replaced by the gorget. 
fender (fen'der), n. [< fendl + -er 1 ; or an abbr. 
of defender.] 1. One who or that which fends, 
guards, or wards off. 
He is the treasurer of the thieves' exchequer, the com- 
mon fender of all bulkers and shoplifts in the town 
Four for a Penny (Harl. Misc., IV. 147). 
Specifically (a) A guard placed before an open fire to 
keep live coals from falling on the floor. It usually con- 
sists of an upright fence or parapet of sheet-metal or wire 
gauze, or a light skeleton of wire, set along the front and 
sides of a hearth, frequently made ornamental and often 
having a top bar. Fenders are also made to cover the 
whole front of a fireplace, and are sometimes fitted with 
a sort of wicket which can be opened without removing 
the fender. 
The basins of bread and milk that she and her husband 
were in the habit of having for supper stood in the fender 
before the fire. Mrs. Gasltell, Sylvia's Lovers, xxxii. 
(')) Natit., a piece of timber, bundle of rope, or the like, 
hung over the side of a vessel to prevent it from being in- 
jured by rubbing against a pier, another vessel, or other 
body, (c) A guard-post placed on the edge of a pier, (d) 
An attachment to a cultivator for preventing the clods of 
earth turned up by it from injuring the plants, (e) The 
rubbing-plate of a carriage, placed where the forward 
wheels turn under the lx>dy of the carriage. 
2. A kind of terrapin. See red-fender. 
fenestral 
Evan opened the conversation with a panegyric upon 
Alice, who, he said, was both canny and fendy. 
Scott, Waverley, xviii. 
feneratet (fen'e-rat), c. t. [< L./enera/s,more 
correctly feeneratus, pp. of fenerare, more epr- 
reotly/awwrar*, deponent fcenerari, lend on in- 
terest, < fenus, more correctly fcenus (f tenor-), 
interest, proceeds, gain, profit, < / */ produce : 
see fecund, fetus, etc.] To put to use, as mon- 
ey ; lend on interest. Cockeram. 
fenerationt (fen-e-ra'shqn), n. [< L. fenera- 
tio(n-), more correctly fteneratio(n-), a lending 
on interest, < ftvnerare, fcenerari : see fenerate.] 
1. The act of lending on interest. 
It [the hare] figured . . . not only pusillanimity and 
timidity from its temper, [but] /nitration or usury from 
its foscundity and &uperfo3tation. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err. 
2. The interest or gain of that which is lent, 
fenestellt, n. [ME. , < L. fenestella, a small win- 
dow: see fenestella.'] A small window. See 
fenestella. 
Sum of the roope wherwith hath strangled be 
Sum men, pray God lette it be never the, 
Hang part of that in every fenestell, 
And this wol from the wesel wlte hem well. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 20. 
fenestella (fen-es-tel'a), n. : pi. fenestella (-e). 
[L., dim. of fenestra, a window : see fenestra.] 
1. A small window. 
2. In Roman Cath- 
olic churches, a niche 
on the south side of 
an altar, containing 
the piscina, and fre- 
quently also the 
credence. 3. [cop.] 
[NL.] In zoo'l. : (a) 
The typical genus of 
the family Fenestel- 
lida;. (&) A genus of 
bivalve mollusks. 
Boltcn, 1798. 
Fenestellidae (f en-es- 
tel'i-de), n.pl [NL., 
< Fenestella + -ida>.] 
A family of paleozo- 
ic polyzoans of fan- 
like form, typified by 
the genus Fenestella. 
Fenestella. Church of Norrey. 
near Caen, Normandy. 
which fencing is taught. 
You little think be was at fencing-school 
At four o'clock this morning. 
Middle.ton, Massinger, and Kowley, Old Law, iii. 2. 
fen-Cricket (fen'krik'"'et), n. The mole-cricket, 
Gryllotalpa vttlgaris. 
fend 1 (fend), v. [< ME. fenden, defend ; abbr. 
of defenden, defend, as fence of defense : see de- 
fend. Cf./<?2.] I. trans. 1. To defend; pro- 
tect; guard. 
He com right son [soon] Normundie to fend. 
Lanijtoft's Chron. (ed. Hearne), p. 195. 
Now, good syr justyce, be my frende, 
And fende me of my fone [foes]. 
Lytell Geste of Bobyn Hade (Child's Ballads, V. 63). 
One day thou wilt be blest ; 
So still obey the guiding hand that/d 
Thee safely through these wonders for sweet ends. 
Keats, Endymion, ii. 
He could not and did not try to fend himself against 
the keen edge of the terrible doubts, the awful mysteries 
The Century, XXVI. 540. 
2. To keep off; prevent from entering or im- 
pinging; ward off; forbid: usually followed by 
off: as, to /end off blows. Compare /en 2 . 
Faires do fall so seldome in a yeare 
That when they come, prolusion must be made 
Jo fende the frost in hardest winter nights. 
Gascoigne, Steele Glas (ed. Arber), p. 66. 
God fend that the fear of this diligence which must then 
be us'd doe not make us affect the lazines of a licencing 
Church. Milton, Areopagitica, p. 41. 
Spread with straw the bedding of thy fold, 
With fern beneath, to fend the bitter cold. 
Dryden, tr. of Virgil's Georgics. 
Ye had aye a good roof ower your head to fend af the 
weather. Scott, Antiquary, xxxvii. 
the end of a railroad line or siding, designed to 
prevent cars from running beyond the end of 
the track. 
fender-board (fen'der-bord), n. One of the 
boards placed at either side of the steps of a 
passenger-car to protect them from mud and 
dirt thrown up by the wheels. 
fender-bolt (fen'der-bolt), n. 1. A bolt hav- 
ing a projecting head designed to protect the 
surrounding surface. 2. A bolt driven into the 
outermost bends or wales of a ship as a sup- 
port for a fender. 
fender-pile (fen'der-pil), n. One of a series of 
piles driven to protect works on either land or 
water from the concussion of moving bodies. 
fendil!6 (F. pron. fon-de-lya'), a. [F., < fendre, 
cleave, split: see fetit.] In ceram., cracked in 
the glaze or enamel: noting a surface covered 
with minute cracks through wear and repeated 
heatings, as distinguished from crackled, which 
is applied to a surface abounding in cracks 
formed intentionally. ' 
fendlichet, fendlyt, n. See fiendly. Chaucer. 
fendu (F. pron. fon-dti'), a. [F., pp. of fendre, 
cleave,split: see/en*.] Cutopen; split; slashed: 
in costume, noting a garment or part of a gar- 
ment in those fashions in which slashing was 
employed Fendu en pal [F.], in her., divided pale- 
wise : said especially of a cross. Compare voided per pale, 
under voided. 
fen-duck (fen'duk), n. The shoveler-duck, Spa- 
tula clypeata, often found in fens. 
fendjr (feii'di), a. [< fendi + -#!.] Clever in 
providing or finding ways and means ; shifty. 
[Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
They range from the 
Silurian to the Per- 
mian. 
fenestert, . [ME., 
also fenestre, < OF. 
fenestre, F. fene'tre = 
Pr. fenestra = It. finestra, fenestra = D. ven- 
ster = OHG. fenstar, MHG. ventter, G. fenster 
= Sw. fonster, < L. fenestra, a window, prob. 
connected with Gr. Qaiveiv, bring to light, show, 
appear, </>avtp6f, open to sight, evident: see 
fancy and fable.] A window. 
At hir dore and his/iefr. 
Arthur and Merlin, 1. 816. 
Lo, how men wryten 
In ffnestrei at the freres. 
Piers Plo-imnnn (C), xvif. 42. 
fenestra (fe-nes'tra),H.; \>\. fenestra! (-tre). [L., 
a window: see fenester.] 1. In anat., a fora- 
men; specifically, one of certain foramina of 
the inner ear. See phrases below. 2. In en- 
tom. : (a) A transparent spot in an opaque sur- 
face, as in the wings of certain butterflies and 
moths. (6) One of two perforations, covered 
with membrane, on the head of a cockroach, 
above the insertions of the antennae. They 
have been regarded as rudimentary ocelli. See 
cut under Insecta Fenestra ovalis (the oval win- 
dow), an opening into the vestibule of the ear from the 
tympanic cavity, situated in the line of junction of the 
prootic and opisthotic tones. In life it is closed by a 
membrane to which is fitted the foot of the stapes or coin- 
niella. See cuts under Crotahis and periotic. Fenestra 
rotunda (the round window), an opening in the inner 
wall of the tympanic cavity, situated wholly in the opis- 
thotic bone, leading into the scala tympani. In life it is 
closed by a membrane. See cut under periotic. 
fenestral (fe-nes'tral), a. and n. [I. a. < ML. 
"fenestralis, < L. fenestra, a window: see fenes- 
tra. II. . < ME. fenestralle, < OF. fenestral. 
< ML. fenestrale, a window, neut. of *fenes- 
trnlis: see I. a.] I. a. 1. Pertaining to a 
window or to windows ; resembling a window ; 
of window-like structure or transparency. 2. 
In entom., pertaining to, consisting of, or hav- 
ing fenestra or transparent spots. 3. In hot., 
having a large opening like a window Fenes- 
tral bandage, in tury., a bandage, compress, or plaster 
with small perforations or openings to facilitate dis- 
charge. Dunfflifton. 
