sconce
/skɑns/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.03 in modern English
Meaning
noun
A fixture for a light, which holds it and provides a screen against wind or against a naked flame or lightbulb.
noun
A fixture for a light, which holds it and provides a screen against wind or against a naked flame or lightbulb.
noun
An act of sconcing (very similar to a fine at Cambridge University, though a sconce is the act of issuing a penalty rather than the penalty itself).
verb
During a meal or as part of a drinking game, to announce some (usually outrageous) deed such that anyone who has done it must drink (similar to I have never; commonly associated with crewdates; very similar to fining at Cambridge University).
noun
A type of small fort or other fortification, especially as built to defend a pass or ford.
Example Sentences
- "[…]tapers put into lanterns or sconces of several-coloured, oiled paper, that the wind might not annoy them."
- "Golden sconces hang not on the walls."
- "There wasn't a room that had not been clad, picture-railed, dadoed, panelled, stained, gilded, bordered and generally made over to within an inch of its life - can I interest anyone in a gold cherubic sconce?"
- "Taking the candle […] she stood with the little flat brass sconce in her hand."
- "This strange scene was lightd up by candles in high and havy brass sconces."
- "Also the candles flickering in the blood-red sconces are black and the body on the crucifix is that of a full-breasted woman."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /skɑns/
- British English: /skɒns/