SUNK FENCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sunk fence mean? 

• SUNK FENCE (noun)
  The noun SUNK FENCE has 1 sense:

1. a ditch with one side being a retaining wall; used to divide lands without defacing the landscape

  Familiarity information: SUNK FENCE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUNK FENCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A ditch with one side being a retaining wall; used to divide lands without defacing the landscape

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

ha-ha; haw-haw; sunk fence

Hypernyms ("sunk fence" is a kind of...):

ditch (a long narrow excavation in the earth)

 Context examples 

"Jane," he recommenced, as we entered the laurel walk, and slowly strayed down in the direction of the sunk fence and the horse-chestnut, "Thornfield is a pleasant place in summer, is it not?"

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

At the bottom was a sunk fence; its sole separation from lonely fields: a winding walk, bordered with laurels and terminating in a giant horse-chestnut, circled at the base by a seat, led down to the fence.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Its grey front stood out well from the background of a rookery, whose cawing tenants were now on the wing: they flew over the lawn and grounds to alight in a great meadow, from which these were separated by a sunk fence, and where an array of mighty old thorn trees, strong, knotty, and broad as oaks, at once explained the etymology of the mansion's designation.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)