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Webster 1913 Edition

Sconce

Sconce

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

Sconce

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Sconced
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Sconcing
.]
1.
To shut up in a sconce; to imprison; to insconce.
[Obs.]
Immure him,
sconce
him, barricade him in ’t.
Marston.
2.
To mulct; to fine.
[Obs.]
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sconce

SCONCE

, n.
1.
A fort or bulwark; a work for defense. Obs.
2.
A hanging or projecting candlestick, generally with a mirror to reflect the light.
Golden sconces hang upon the walls.
3.
The circular tube with a brim in a candlestick, into which the candle is inserted, that is, the support, the holder of the candle; and from this sense the candlestick, in the preceding definition, has its name.
4.
A fixed seat or shelf. [Local.]

SCONCE

, n.
1.
Sense; judgment; discretion or understanding. This sense has been in vulgar use in New England within my memory.
2.
The head; a low word.
3.
A mulet or fine.

SCONCE

,
Verb.
T.
To mulet; to fine. [A low word and not in use.]

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