paling
paling — noun
- palingsingular
- palingsplural
1. a type of fence built from narrow, upright pieces of wood, often with pointed to
a type of fence built from narrow, upright pieces of wood, often with pointed tops, placed side by side with a small gap between each piece
A white paling enclosed the garden, painted by the owner the previous summer.
countable: a paling as a fence structure
The old paling around the property leaned badly after the strong winds last winter.
singular form referring to the whole fence
The Watanabe family built a new wooden paling to separate their yard from the neighbours'.
Esme painted the paling white to match the new garden furniture.
The wooden paling along the lane had stood there for over forty years.
- picket fence
a more common term for a low wooden fence with pointed vertical boards, especially in American English
- fence
a general term; a paling is a specific style of fence with narrow upright boards
文法句型
a paling
palings
用法筆記
When used in the singular (a paling), the word usually refers to the fence structure as a whole. The plural form (palings) may refer either to multiple fences or to the individual pieces of wood that make up one fence.
常見錯誤
2. one of the long, thin, pointed sticks that are fixed vertically into the ground
one of the long, thin, pointed sticks that are fixed vertically into the ground side by side to form a fence
Andrés pulled out a loose paling and knocked it back into place.
countable: a paling as an individual fence post
Two palings had rotted at the bottom and needed replacing before the fence collapsed.
Cyrus noticed one paling was cracked and marked it for replacement.
Each paling had been sanded smooth before the workmen painted it.
文法句型
a paling
one of the palings
用法筆記
This sense refers to a single component of the fence rather than the whole structure. It is the same as 'pale' (sense 2 of that noun) or 'picket'. More common in British English than American.