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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Sconce \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.
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No sconce or fortress of his raising was ever known
either to have been forced, or yielded up, or
quitted. --Milton.
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2. A hut for protection and shelter; a stall.
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One that . . . must raise a sconce by the highway
and sell switches. --Beau. & Fl.
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3. A piece of armor for the head; headpiece; helmet.
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I must get a sconce for my head. --Shak.
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4. Fig.: The head; the skull; also, brains; sense;
discretion. [Colloq.]
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To knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel.
--Shak.
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5. A poll tax; a mulct or fine. --Johnson.
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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.
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Tapers put into lanterns or sconces of
several-colored, oiled paper, that the wind might
not annoy them. --Evelyn.
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Golden sconces hang not on the walls. --Dryden.
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7. Hence, the circular tube, with a brim, in a candlestick,
into which the candle is inserted.
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8. (Arch.) A squinch.
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9. A fragment of a floe of ice. --Kane.
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10. [Perhaps a different word.] A fixed seat or shelf. [Prov.
Eng.]
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Sconce \Sconce\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Sconced}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Sconcing}.]
1. To shut up in a sconce; to imprison; to insconce. [Obs.]
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Immure him, sconce him, barricade him in 't.
--Marston.
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2. To mulct; to fine. [Obs.] --Milton.
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Squinch \Squinch\ (skw[i^]nch), n. [Corrupted fr. sconce.]
(Arch.)
A small arch thrown across the corner of a square room to
support a superimposed mass, as where an octagonal spire or
drum rests upon a square tower; -- called also {sconce}, and
{sconcheon}.
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