fencelessadj.
/ˈfɛnsləs/, U.S. /ˈfɛnsləs/ 1.
a. Without an enclosure or hedge; unenclosed, open.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > [adjective] > open or not enclosed
openOE
plaina1375
uncloseda1425
patent?1440
fenceless1587
ungardened1623
unenclosed1653
1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 196v No plant shall prooue vpon the sencelesse land.
1649 F. Roberts Clavis Bibliorum (ed. 2) 432 Utterly to lay this vineyard waste, fencelesse, fruitlesse.
1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 307 Those fenceless fields the sons of wealth divide.
1887 R. Meeker in Harper's Mag. Apr. 725/2 The fenceless, treeless landscape of the steppe.
b. Without a fortification; unfortified.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [adjective] > not
pregnable1387
unfortified1525
expugnable1570
unimmured1615
stormable1645
fenceless1740
vulnerable1790
1740 C. Pitt tr. Virgil Æneid II. xii. 598 Before Him..the fenceless City lay.
1876 Bulwer-Lytton's Pausanias (ed. 2) iv. vi. 266 The fenceless villages of Sparta.
2. Without means of defence; defenceless.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [adjective] > exposed to danger > vulnerable > unprotected
nakedeOE
openeOE
yemelesc897
bare1297
unarmed1297
berghlessa1325
subjectc1384
undefensablec1412
unfencible1513
defenceless1532
wide open?1544
undefended1564
unfended1576
indefensive1586
undefensive1587
fenceless1594
unprotected1597
undefensible1616
unscreened1648
defendless1738
uncovereda1795
screenless1837
undefendable1938
1594 R. Carew tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne iii. 113 Fencelesse my brest, why stay you it to cleaue?
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 303 The Wall Immoveable of this now fenceless world. View more context for this quotation
c1750 W. Shenstone Love & Honour in Wks. (1764) I. 327 On my fenceless head it's phial'd wrath May fate exhaust.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby i. xvi. 25 O'er my friend my cloak I threw, And fenceless faced the deadly dew.
1850 J. S. Blackie tr. Æschylus Lyrical Dramas II. 254 The Greeks Our fenceless chiefs..Mowed down.
Derivatives
ˈfencelessness n. †lack of skill in fence (obsolete); the condition of not being protected by a fence.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > [noun] > lack of skill
fencelessness1656
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [noun] > liability to harm, loss, etc. > action or condition of exposure to harm > unprotectedness
nakednessa1586
openness1587
exposedness1620
obviousness1669
defencelessness1683
unguardedness1818
unprotectedness1819
fencelessness1856
1656 J. Trapp Comm. Matt. vii. 3 A general doctrine, not applied, is as a sword without an edge, not in itself, but to us, through our singular fencelessness.
1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters III. 220 The fencelessness..of the free virtue lead[s] to the loving..order of eternal happiness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1587- to clear the air
- to clear the anchor
- to clear the bases
- to clear the coast
- to clear the decks
- to clear the hawse
- to clear up
- to clear, pay, quit a score or scores
- to cleave a hair
- to cleave down
- to cleave one's way through
- to cleave the pin
- to cleek hold
- to cleek hold of
- to clerk it
- to clew down
- to clew up
- to click and collect
- to click into place
- to click n collect
- to click on all cylinders
- to click on etc cylinders
- to click on four cylinders
- to click on six cylinders
- to click one's fingers