sconce


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sconce 1

 (skŏns)
n.
A small defensive earthwork or fort.

[Dutch schans, from German Schanze, from Middle High German.]

sconce 2

 (skŏns)
n.
1. A decorative wall bracket for holding candles or lights.
2. A flattened candlestick that has a handle.
3. Slang The human head or skull.

[Middle English, from Old French esconse, lantern, hiding place, from Medieval Latin scōnsa, from Latin abscōnsa, feminine past participle of abscondere, to hide away : ab-, abs-, away; see ab-1 + condere, to preserve; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sconce

(skɒns)
n
1. (Furniture) a bracket fixed to a wall for holding candles or lights
2. (Antiques) a flat candlestick with a handle
[C14: from Old French esconse hiding place, lantern, or from Late Latin sconsa, from absconsa dark lantern]

sconce

(skɒns)
n
(Fortifications) a small protective fortification, such as an earthwork
[C16: from Dutch schans, from Middle High German schanze bundle of brushwood]

sconce

(skɒns)
vb (tr)
1. to challenge (a fellow student) on the grounds of a social misdemeanour to drink a large quantity of beer without stopping
2. obsolete to fine (a student) for some minor misdemeanour
n
3. the act of sconcing
4. a mug or tankard used in sconcing
[C17: of obscure origin]

sconce

(skɒns)
n
1. the head or skull
2. sense, brain, or wit
[C16: probably jocular use of sconce1]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sconce1

(skɒns)

n.
a bracket for candles or other lights, placed on a wall, mirror, picture frame, etc.
[1350–1400; Middle English sconce, sconse (< Old French esconce) < Medieval Latin scōnsa, aph. variant of abscōnsa, n. use of feminine past participle of abscondere to conceal; see abscond]

sconce2

(skɒns)

n.
a small detached fort or defensive work, as to defend a gate or bridge.
[1565–75; < Dutch schans < German Schanze, orig. bundle of wood; compare ensconce]

sconce4

(skɒns)

n.
1. the head or skull.
2. sense or wit.
[1560–70]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

sconce


Past participle: sconced
Gerund: sconcing

Imperative
sconce
sconce
Present
I sconce
you sconce
he/she/it sconces
we sconce
you sconce
they sconce
Preterite
I sconced
you sconced
he/she/it sconced
we sconced
you sconced
they sconced
Present Continuous
I am sconcing
you are sconcing
he/she/it is sconcing
we are sconcing
you are sconcing
they are sconcing
Present Perfect
I have sconced
you have sconced
he/she/it has sconced
we have sconced
you have sconced
they have sconced
Past Continuous
I was sconcing
you were sconcing
he/she/it was sconcing
we were sconcing
you were sconcing
they were sconcing
Past Perfect
I had sconced
you had sconced
he/she/it had sconced
we had sconced
you had sconced
they had sconced
Future
I will sconce
you will sconce
he/she/it will sconce
we will sconce
you will sconce
they will sconce
Future Perfect
I will have sconced
you will have sconced
he/she/it will have sconced
we will have sconced
you will have sconced
they will have sconced
Future Continuous
I will be sconcing
you will be sconcing
he/she/it will be sconcing
we will be sconcing
you will be sconcing
they will be sconcing
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been sconcing
you have been sconcing
he/she/it has been sconcing
we have been sconcing
you have been sconcing
they have been sconcing
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been sconcing
you will have been sconcing
he/she/it will have been sconcing
we will have been sconcing
you will have been sconcing
they will have been sconcing
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been sconcing
you had been sconcing
he/she/it had been sconcing
we had been sconcing
you had been sconcing
they had been sconcing
Conditional
I would sconce
you would sconce
he/she/it would sconce
we would sconce
you would sconce
they would sconce
Past Conditional
I would have sconced
you would have sconced
he/she/it would have sconced
we would have sconced
you would have sconced
they would have sconced
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.sconce - a shelter or screen providing protection from enemy fire or from the weather
shelter - a structure that provides privacy and protection from danger
shelter - protective covering that provides protection from the weather
2.sconce - a small fort or earthwork defending a ford, pass, or castle gate
earthwork - an earthen rampart
fortress, fort - a fortified defensive structure
3.sconce - a candle or flaming torch secured in a sconce
light source, light - any device serving as a source of illumination; "he stopped the car and turned off the lights"
4.sconce - a decorative wall bracket for holding candles or other sources of lightsconce - a decorative wall bracket for holding candles or other sources of light
wall bracket, bracket - a support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf)
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

sconce

[skɒns] Ncandelabro m de pared
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sconce

n (with candles) → Wandleuchter m; (electric) → Wandleuchte f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
References in classic literature ?
Nothing told me then that she, a few years hence, would be the wife of one entirely unknown to me as yet, but destined hereafter to become a closer friend than even herself, more intimate than that unmannerly lad of seventeen, by whom I was collared in the passage, on coming down, and well-nigh jerked off my equilibrium, and who, in correction for his impudence, received a resounding whack over the sconce, which, however, sustained no serious injury from the infliction; as, besides being more than commonly thick, it was protected by a redundant shock of short, reddish curls, that my mother called auburn.
A large book lay open upon his night-desk, a wax-light was still burning in its silver sconce. This was more than enough to prove to D'Artagnan the quiescence of the prelate's night, and the good intentions of his waking.
With these triumphant expressions, he seized a hammer and dealt a heavy blow at a vice, which in his mind's eye represented the sconce or head of Joseph Willet.
Then the Giant, grinning with rage, strode tower-like towards the stranger (ten times strengthened at every step), and fetched a monstrous blow at him with his pine tree, which Hercules caught upon his club; and being more skilful than Antaeus, he paid him back such a rap upon the sconce, that down tumbled the great lumbering man-mountain, flat upon the ground.
But hereupon a fierce contest rose among them, concerning feet and inches; they cracked each other's sconces with their yard-sticks -- the great skull echoed --and seizing that lucky chance, I quickly concluded my own admeasurements.
The candles that lighted that room of hers were placed in sconces on the wall.
I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to Fortunato, bowed him through several suites of rooms to the archway that led into the vaults.
There were also perhaps a dozen candles about, two in brass candlesticks upon the mantel and several in sconces, so that the room was brilliantly illuminated.
Additional sconces were set in various parts of the hall, out of the war, and a flambeau, emitting sweet odor, was placed in the right hand of each of the Caryaides [Caryatides] that stood against the wall -- some fifty or sixty altogether.
It was papered in pale blue and had a little, old-timey toilet table with sconces for candles.
This hall was as light as day, for torches burned in numerous sconces upon the walls, throwing strange shadows from the tusked or antlered heads which ornamented them.
It was an odd, shambling, low-roofed out-house, half-cowshed and half- kitchen, with a coarse brown canvas table-cloth, and tin sconces stuck against the walls, to hold candles at supper-time.