Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
FENCE
I. noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English fens, short for defens defense
Date: 14th century
a means of protection ; defense ,
2. a barrier intended to prevent escape or intrusion or to mark a boundary, an immaterial barrier or boundary line , fencing 1,
4. a receiver of stolen goods, a place where stolen goods are bought, fenceless adjective fencelessness noun
II. verb (fenced; fencing)
Date: 15th century
transitive verb
1. to enclose with a fence, b. to keep in or out with a fence, to ward off, to provide a defense for, to sell (stolen property) to a fence, intransitive verb
1. to practice fencing, b. to use tactics of attack and defense resembling those of fencing, to parry arguments by shifting ground, to provide protection, fencer noun