scances

Noun

scance (plural scances)

1. A crescent-shaped structure of stones built to afford cover in battle.
   • As for the state of Antwerp, the enemy has fortified so strongly that their ships cannot possibly remove him; for he bends half his force to defend the scance of Calloo, upon the Fladers' side of the bridge, and the other half on the brabant side, which is full of scances, so that one hundred men...1584, Joseph Stevenson, Calendar of State Papers: Foreign Series, of the Reign of Elizabeth, page 406
2. (Scotland, obsolete) A gleam or glow.
   • In silk an' sattin ilk ane scances,
     An gauze beside,
     They've loupit o'er a' sort o' fences
     Wi perfect pride.1813, Ebenezer Picken, Miscellaneous Poems, Songs, Etc, page 128
3. (obsolete) A dose of radiation.
   • The succeeding scances may even be prolonged to twenty or twenty-five minutes, but it will then be necessary to use light massage to the part exposed to the electric rays.1901, Dental Hints, volume 3, page 8
4. (obsolete) A social discussion.
   • The members of the club were all eager to debate such matters as poetry, art, religion, music, and natural science with open minds. From these creative scances were born many of the ideas that contributed to the Industrial Revolution, as well as its financial sponsoring.2012, Ebbe Almqvist, History of Industrial Gases, →ISBN

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