Sconce, v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Sconced (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Sconcing.] 1. To shut up in a sconce; to
imprison; to insconce. [Obs.]
Immure him, sconce him, barricade him in
't.
Marston.
2. To mulct; to fine. [Obs.]
Milton.
Sconce (?), n. [D. schans, OD.
schantse, perhaps from OF. esconse a hiding place, akin
to esconser to hide, L. absconsus, p.
p. of abscondere. See Abscond, and cf.
Ensconce, Sconce a candlestick.] 1.
A fortification, or work for defense; a fort.
No sconce or fortress of his raising was ever
known either to have been forced, or yielded up, or
quitted.
Milton.
2. A hut for protection and shelter; a
stall.
One that . . . must raise a sconce by the
highway and sell switches.
Beau. & Fl.
3. A piece of armor for the head; headpiece;
helmet.
I must get a sconce for my head.
Shak.
4. Fig.: The head; the skull; also, brains;
sense; discretion. [Colloq.]
To knock him about the sconce with a dirty
shovel.
Shak.
5. A poll tax; a mulct or fine.
Johnson.
6. [OF. esconse a dark lantern, properly, a
hiding place. See Etymol. above.] A protection for a light; a
lantern or cased support for a candle; hence, a fixed hanging or
projecting candlestick.
Tapers put into lanterns or sconces of several-
colored, oiled paper, that the wind might not annoy them.
Evelyn.
Golden sconces hang not on the
walls.
Dryden.
7. Hence, the circular tube, with a brim, in a
candlestick, into which the candle is inserted.
8. (Arch.) A squinch.
9. A fragment of a floe of ice.
Kane.
10. [Perhaps a different word.] A fixed seat
or shelf. [Prov. Eng.]