Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Capable of being defended or of making defense.
- Pertaining to or composed of fencibles.
- noun A soldier enlisted for defense against invasion, and not liable to serve abroad: generally in the plural: as, the Warwickshire fencibles.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective obsolete Capable of being defended, or of making or affording defense.
- noun (Mil.) A soldier enlisted for home service only; -- usually in the pl.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Capable of being
defended - noun A
militia unit raised for homeland defense. - noun A
soldier in such a unit.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Almost all of them had felt his power; almost all, in withdrawing their fencible men from their own glens, left their families and property exposed to his vengeance; all, without exception, were desirous of diminishing his sovereignty; and most of them lay so near his territories, that they might reasonably hope to be gratified by a share of his spoil.
A Legend of Montrose 2008
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Where is the roll of fencible men liable to do suit and service to the Halidome? —
The Monastery 2008
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About nine-and-twenty years ago, the fencible men of Col were reckoned one hundred and forty, which is the sixth of eight hundred and forty; and probably some contrived to be left out of the list.
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What I had in my mind was that I might count on you taking a company of our fencible men, as John here is going to do, and going over-bye to Lorn with me to cut off those
John Splendid The Tale of a Poor Gentleman, and the Little Wars of Lorn Neil Munro
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At the general meeting of the fencible corps at Cunningham, Lord
Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745 Volume III. Mrs. Thomson
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In his fifteenth year he enlisted in a fencible regiment, which was afterwards stationed at Inverness.
The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume IV. The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century Various
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He then incited his hearers to take arms for the Chevalier, under the title of King James the Seventh; and told them, that for his part, he was determined to set up his standard and to summon all the fencible men of his own tenants, and with them to hazard his life in the cause.
Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745. Volume I. Mrs. Thomson
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'I haven't been yet to offer myself as a sea-fencible, and I ought to have done it long ago.'
The Trumpet-Major Thomas Hardy 1884
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Not being able to decide whether to enrol himself as a sea-fencible, a local militia-man, or a volunteer, he simply went on dancing attendance upon Anne.
The Trumpet-Major Thomas Hardy 1884
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Almost all of them had felt his power; almost all, in withdrawing their fencible men from their own glens, left their families and property exposed to his vengeance; all, without exception, were desirous of diminishing his sovereignty; and most of them lay so near his territories, that they might reasonably hope to be gratified by a share of his spoil.
A Legend of Montrose 1871
jaime_d commented on the word fencible
From Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution
March 6, 2011