fenced

1. 1
   adjective

   Surrounded or enclosed by a fence.

   The fenced enclosure at the zoo gave the goats room to roam safely.

   Their backyard is fully fenced, so the children can play without supervision.

   Similarenclosed, walled

   Oppositeunfenced, open

   Note

   Before a noun it describes a state rather than an action: a fenced yard, a fenced enclosure. That is the easiest way to tell it from the verb's participle, which names the act of building and can take a by-phrase (fenced off by the owner). As an adjective it grades, with more fenced and most fenced, and it sits naturally with degree words like fully.

2. 2
   verb

   Past participle of fence.

   The disputed strip of land was fenced off by the previous owner.

   Once the dealer had fenced the stolen jewelry, he left town.

   Note

   One spelling carries every meaning of the verb behind it, from building a fence to selling stolen goods. Those transitive uses go into the passive as well as the perfect: the field was fenced off, the jewels were fenced. The intransitive ones (fencing as a sport, jumping a fence, dodging a question) appear only after have: she has fenced for years, the witness had fenced with every question. The simple past is spelled identically.

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