fender - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Noun
fender (plural fenders)
- (US) panel of a car which encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.
- ✤ Synonyms: (Australian) guard, (British) wheel arch, (British) wing
- ✤ Hyponym: (rear fender) quarter panel
- (US) a shield, usually of plastic or metal, on a bicycle that protects the rider from mud or water
- ✤ Synonym: (British) mudguard
- (nautical) 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
- 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.1
- ✤ 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.2
Verb
fender (third-person singular simple present fenders, present participle fendering, simple past and past participle fendered)
- (nautical) To use fenders to protect the side of a boat
Etymology
From fend + -er.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈfɛnd.ə(ɹ)/
- Audio (US): 🔊
- Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)
Gallery
- the fenders on this car are highlighted red (noun sense 1)
- the fender on the rear wheel of a bicycle (noun sense 2)
- the fender on the side of a boat (noun sense 3)
- a fireplace with the fender highlighted in false colour (noun sense 4)
Printed 2026-07-15.
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