ENGLISH
REFERENCE

fence off

phr. v..
B1 Intermediate Oxford General-service

phr. v.. to separate an area from the space around it by building a fence.

phr. v.. to enclose or isolate a specific area of land using a fence; transitive verb often used to denote restriction of access or boundary definition.


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.

Particles
off
Separability
optional
Pattern
fence + off + object
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.

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