Sekirov Dictionary

sconce

UK /skɒns/US /skɑns/

noun10

  1. A fixture for a light, which holds it and provides a screen against wind or against a naked flame or lightbulb.
  2. A candlestick (holder for a candle, especially a circular tube, with a brim, into which a candle is inserted), either with a handle for carrying, or with a bracket for attaching to a wall.
  3. A type of small fort or other fortification, especially as built to defend a pass or ford.
  4. A head or a skull.
  5. A poll tax; a mulct or fine.
  6. An act of sconcing (very similar to a fine at Cambridge University, though a sconce is the act of issuing a penalty rather than the penalty itself).
  7. A fixed seat or shelf.
  8. A squinch.
  9. A fragment of a floe of ice.
  10. (no longer used) A hut for protection and shelter; a stall.

verb3

  1. During a meal or as part of a drinking game, to announce some (usually outrageous) deed such that anyone who has done it must drink (similar to I have never; commonly associated with crewdates; very similar to fining at Cambridge University).
  2. (no longer used) To impose a fine, a forfeit, or a mulct.
  3. (no longer used) To shut within a sconce; to imprison.
forms

sconced · sconcing · sconces

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