Word.ws English Dictionary

fence the tables

fence the tables verb: to make a solemn address to those who present themselves to commune at the Lord's Supper, on the feelings appropriate to the service, in order to hinder, so far as possible, those who are unworthy from approaching the table.

Verb

fence the tables (third-person singular simple present fences the tables, present participle fencing the tables, simple past and past participle fenced the tables)

  1. (Scotland, historical, idiomatic) To make a solemn address to those who present themselves to commune at the Lord's Supper, on the feelings appropriate to the service, in order to hinder, so far as possible, those who are unworthy from approaching the table.
    • January 19 1840, Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Memoirs
      Felt great help in fencing the tables
    • To be the bride of Christ was the thought that filled her heart; and when, at the fencing of the table, Dr. Chrystal preached from Matthew nine and fifteen, 'Can the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?' it was remarked by sundry that Ailie's face was liker the...1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

Forms of fence the tables

third-person singular presentfences the tables
present participlefencing the tables
past participlefenced the tables
pastfenced the tables

Questions about fence the tables

What does fence the tables mean?
Fence the tables means to make a solemn address to those who present themselves to commune at the Lord's Supper, on the feelings appropriate to the service, in order to hinder, so far as possible, those who are unworthy from approaching the table.
What part of speech is fence the tables?
Fence the tables is a verb.
What is the past tense of fence the tables?
The past tense of fence the tables is fenced the tables.

Words near fence the tables in the dictionary

  1. fence off
  2. fence post
  3. fence posts
  4. fence sitter
  5. fence sitters
  6. fence the tables
  7. fence time
  8. fence times
  9. fence viewer
  10. fence wire
  11. fence wires

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fence the tables (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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