Phrasal verb
fence off
Definition
phrasal verb. to separate an area from the space around it by building a fence.
phrasal verb. to enclose or isolate a specific area of land using a fence; transitive verb often used to denote restriction of access or boundary definition.
Examples
“The workers fence off the construction site for safety.”
“The council decided to fence off the pond to prevent young children from falling in.”
“After the discovery of rare orchids, the park rangers had to fence off the entire meadow to protect the delicate ecosystem from hikers.”
Examples
simple
“The workers fence off the construction site for safety.”
contextual
“The council decided to fence off the pond to prevent young children from falling in.”
complex
“After the discovery of rare orchids, the park rangers had to fence off the entire meadow to protect the delicate ecosystem from hikers.”
Usage
usually takes a physical area or piece of land as the object.
Teaching tip
contrast with 'wall off' or 'cordon off' (using tape/barriers); 'fence off' specifically implies a semi-permanent wooden or metal structure.
Pitfall
They fenced the garden off from the street.
They fenced off the garden from the street.
while 'fence off' can be separable, it is most commonly used in the 'verb + particle + object' pattern when the object is a noun phrase.
Phrasal verb
Particles
off
Separability
optional
Pattern
fence + off + object