Ringfence

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A fence which encircles a large area, or a whole estate, within one enclosure.
Verb
  1. 1
    To guarantee the safety of funds or investment. In particular, to ensure some degree of distinction for monies, that may provide immunity against untoward financial claims. transitive
  2. 2
    To specify that funds may only be used for a specific purpose, especially government funds. transitive
  3. 3
    To require workers to remain in (particular types of work), as during wartime. transitive

    "As on the docks, a wartime Essential Work Order gave the miners a minimum weekly wage and 'ring-fenced' employment in the industry. This constraint was not removed until 1950."

Example

More examples

"As on the docks, a wartime Essential Work Order gave the miners a minimum weekly wage and 'ring-fenced' employment in the industry. This constraint was not removed until 1950."

Etymology

From ring + fence.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.