- Sconce
- 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.
[1913 Webster]
No sconce or fortress of his raising was ever known either to have been forced, or yielded up, or quitted. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
2. A hut for protection and shelter; a stall. [1913 Webster]
One that . . . must raise a sconce by the highway and sell switches. --Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster]
3. A piece of armor for the head; headpiece; helmet. [1913 Webster]
I must get a sconce for my head. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
4. Fig.: The head; the skull; also, brains; sense; discretion. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
To knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
5. A poll tax; a mulct or fine. --Johnson. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
Tapers put into lanterns or sconces of several-colored, oiled paper, that the wind might not annoy them. --Evelyn. [1913 Webster]
Golden sconces hang not on the walls. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
7. Hence, the circular tube, with a brim, in a candlestick, into which the candle is inserted. [1913 Webster]
8. (Arch.) A squinch. [1913 Webster]
9. A fragment of a floe of ice. --Kane. [1913 Webster]
10. [Perhaps a different word.] A fixed seat or shelf. [Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.