fender

noun

1. 1

   panel of a car which encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.

2. 2

   a shield, usually of plastic or metal, on a bicycle that protects the rider from mud or water

3. 3

   any shaped cushion-like object normally made from polymers, rubber or wood that is placed along the sides of a boat to prevent damage when moored alongside another vessel or jetty, or when using a lock, etc. Modern variations are cylindrical although older wooden version and rubbing strips can still be found; old tyres are used as a cheap substitute

4. 4

   a low metal framework in front of a fireplace, intended to catch hot coals, soot, and ash

   Now and then he would make a motion with his feet as if he were running quickly backward upstairs, and would tread on the edge of the fender, so that the fire-irons went flying and the buttered-bun dishes crashed against each other in the hearth.

   Our solid, shiny chairs, our immense, dingy sofas, our heavy mahogany tables and our cast-iron fenders, often bearing the initials of long-dead railway companies, likewise our plaster walls of chocolate and duck-egg green and our hissing gasoliers have their roots deep in our national history.

verb

1. 1

   To use fenders to protect the side of a boat

Forms

plural

fenders

past tense

fendered

past participle

fendered

present participle

fendering

third person singular

fenders