sconcing

The penalty of "sconcing," still inflicted at Oxford, for offences against undergraduate etiquette, finds a place in the

Life in the Medieval University Robert S. Rait

So far, the offences for which a sconce is prescribed, might in most cases, be paralleled in more recent times in an English college, but the statutes of Cornouaille also make sconcing the penalty for striking

Life in the Medieval University Robert S. Rait

This is the intrepid way in which a strong parliament and a strong nation like to see public difficulties handled, and they now welcomed the appearance of a new minister, who rejected what he called narrow and flimsy expedients, of which so much had been seen in the last half dozen years; who was not afraid to make a stand against heedless men with hearts apparently set on drying up one source of revenue after another; who did not shrink from sconcing the powerful landed phalanx like other people; and who at the same time boldly used and manfully defended the most unpopular of all the public imposts.

The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. 1 (of 3) 1809-1859 John Morley 1880