Englishfence
noun
1 she crept through a gap in the fence:
barrier, paling, railing, rail, bar, hurdle, enclosure;
wall, hedge, hedgerow, windbreak, groin, partition;
barricade, stockade, palisade, rampart, protection, defense;
rare circumvallation.
2 informal he was an accomplished fence, dealing mainly in jewelry:
receiver of stolen goods, dealer in stolen goods;
receiver, dealer, trafficker;
informal pusher.
□ on the fence (also sitting on the fence)
informal
they were on the fence about the whole issue:
undecided, uncommitted, uncertain, unsure, vacillating, wavering, dithering, hesitant, tentative, doubtful, irresolute, ambivalent, torn, in two minds, in a dilemma, on the horns of a dilemma, in a quandary;
abstaining;
neutral, impartial, nonaligned, nonpartisan, unbiased, open-minded;
British humming and hawing;
informal iffy, blowing hot and cold.
verb
1 they intend to fence off many acres of wild land:
enclose, surround, circumscribe, encircle, circle, encompass, bound, form a barrier around, form a ring around;
divide up, section off, separate off, partition off, cut off, cordon off, close off, isolate, segregate, seal, close;
literary gird, girdle, engird;
rare compass.
2 he needed more wire to fence in his chickens:
confine, pen in, coop up, rail in, box in, wall in, hedge in, hem in, close in, shut in, shut up, mew up, immure, lock in, shut off, separate off, cut off;
intern, impound, hold captive, keep under lock and key;
enclose, surround, kettle;
secure, protect, defend;
North American corral.
3 the man fenced but Jim persisted with his questions:
be evasive, be vague, be ambiguous, be noncommittal, equivocate, prevaricate, stall, vacillate, quibble, hedge, beat around the bush, dodge the issue, sidestep the issue, parry questions, fudge the issue, mince one's words;
informal pussyfoot around, duck the question, duck the issue, waffle, shilly-shally;
British, informal flannel;
rare palter, tergiversate.