fencing (fensing)

[Ver [Verbal n. of fence, v., in its various uses.] 1. The art of using a sword or foil in attack and defense, or practice for improvement 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. Su ex, 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 dangerous piece of machinery; brattishing.-4. Material used in making fences. A decayed fragment or two of fencing fill the gaps in Ruskin, Elements of Drawing, p. 217. the bank.