contend vs fence what difference

what is difference between contend and fence

English

Etymology

From Middle English contenden, borrowed from Old French contendre, from Latin contendere (“to stretch out, extend, strive after, contend”), from com- (“together”) + tendere (“to stretch”); see tend, and compare attend, extend, intend, subtend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈtɛnd/
• Rhymes: -ɛnd

Verb

contend (third-person singular simple present contends, present participle contending, simple past and past participle contended)

1. (intransitive) To be in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
   • 2011, Osaiah “Ike” Wilson III, ‎James J.F. Forrest, Handbook of Defence Politics

     the armies of Syria and Lebanon lack the capability to contend with the Israeli army, as demonstrated during the course of the First Lebanon War.

2. (intransitive) To struggle or exert oneself to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
   • 17th century, John Dryden, Epistle III to the Lady Castlemain

     You sit above, and see vain men below / Contend for what you only can bestow.

   • 2020, C. Matthew McMahon, ‎Therese B. McMahon, 5 Marks of Christian Resolve

     God has entrusted something to the church, and it is the church’s job to contend for it, even unto death

3. (intransitive) To be in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.
   • 1667, Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety

     many of those things he so fiercely contended about , were either falle or trivial

4. (intransitive) To believe (something is reasonable) and argue (for it); to advocate.
   • 1996, Michael Adler, ‎Erio Ziglio, Gazing Into the Oracle […]

     Some panellists contended that the costs of research and care justified the establishment of a permanent national commission

Synonyms

• (strive in opposition): fight, combat, vie, oppose
• (struggle): struggle, strive, emulate (rare)
• (strive in debate): contest, litigate, dispute, debate
• (believe and argue): assert, aver

Related terms

• contender
• contention
• contentious

Translations

Further reading

• contend in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• contend in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

From Middle English fence, fens, short for defence, defens (“the act of defending”), from Old French defens, defense (see defence).

The sense “enclosure” arises in the mid 15th century.
Also from the 15th century is use as a verb in the sense “to enclose with a fence”. The generalized sense “to defend, screen, protect” arises ca. 1500. The sense “to fight with swords (rapiers)” is from the 1590s (Shakespeare).

Displaced native Old English edor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛns/, [fɛns], [fɛnts]
• Rhymes: -ɛns

Noun

fence (countable and uncountable, plural fences)

1. A thin artificial barrier that separates two pieces of land or a house perimeter.
2. Someone who hides or buys and sells stolen goods, a criminal middleman for transactions of stolen goods.
3. (by extension) The place whence such a middleman operates.
4. Skill in oral debate.
5. (obsolete, uncountable) The art or practice of fencing.
6. A guard or guide on machinery.
7. (figuratively) A barrier, for example an emotional barrier.
8. (computing, programming) A memory barrier.

Hyponyms

• catch fence
• electric fence
• picket fence
• snow fence

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Pennsylvania German: Fens

Translations

See also

• wire netting
• wire gauze

Verb

fence (third-person singular simple present fences, present participle fencing, simple past and past participle fenced)

1. (transitive) To enclose, contain or separate by building fence.
2. (transitive) To defend or guard.
3. (transitive) To engage in the selling or buying of stolen goods.

   • The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He’d never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn’t run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn’t swear he knew his face.

4. (intransitive, sports) To engage in the sport of fencing.
5. (intransitive, equestrianism) To jump over a fence.
6. (intransitive) To conceal the truth by giving equivocal answers; to hedge; to be evasive.
   • 1981, A. D. Hope, “His Coy Mistress to Mr. Marvell,” A Book of Answers:

     A lady, sir, as you will find, / Keeps counsel, or she speaks her mind, / Means what she says and scorns to fence / And palter with feigned innocence.

Synonyms

• (to sell or buy stolen goods): pawn

Derived terms

• ring-fence, ringfence

Translations

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛnt͡sɛ]
• Rhymes: -ɛntsɛ
• Hyphenation: fen‧ce

Noun

fence

1. dative singular of fenka
2. locative singular of fenka

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