sconce

sconce ¹  (skns)

n.

A small defensive earthwork or fort.

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

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sconce ²  (skns)

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.

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[Middle English, from Old French esconse, lantern, hiding place, from Medieval Latin scnsa, from Latin abscnsa, feminine past participle of abscondere, to hide away : ab-, abs-, away; see ab-¹ + condere, to preserve; see dh- in Indo-European roots.]

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sconce¹

n

1. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Furniture) a bracket fixed to a wall for holding candles or lights

2. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Antiques) a flat candlestick with a handle

[from Old French esconse hiding place, lantern, or from Late Latin sconsa, from absconsa dark lantern]

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sconce²

n

(Military / Fortifications) a small protective fortification, such as an earthwork

[from Dutch schans, from Middle High German schanze bundle of brushwood]

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sconce³ (at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, esp formerly)

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

1. the act of sconcing

2. a mug or tankard used in sconcing

[of obscure origin]

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sconce⁴

n Archaic

1. the head or skull

2. sense, brain, or wit

[probably jocular use of sconce¹]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	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 light wall bracket, bracket - a support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf)

Translations

sconce [skɒns] N → candelabro m de pared

sconce

n (with candles) → Wandleuchter m; (electric) → Wandleuchte f