1. A bufoon. [Obs.] L'Estrange.
2. A flout; a jeer; a gibe; a taunt. [Obs.] Fortherby.
SCONCE Sconce, n. Etym: [D. schans, OD. schantse, perhaps from OF. esconse a hiding place, akin to esconser to hide, L. absconsus, p. p. of abscondere. See Abscond, and cf. Ensconce, Sconce a candlestick.]
1. A fortification, or work for defense; a fort. No sconce or fortress of his raising was ever known either to have been forced, or yielded up, or quitted. Milton.
2. A hut for protection and shelter; a stall. One that . . . must raise a sconce by the highway and sell switches. Beau. & Fl.
3. A piece of armor for the head; headpiece; helmet. I must get a sconce for my head. Shak.
4. Fig.: The head; the skull; also, brains; sense; discretion. [Colloq.] To knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel. Shak.
5. A poll tax; a mulct or fine. Johnson.
6. Etym: [OF. esconse a dark lantern, properly, a hiding place. See Etymol. above.]
Defn: A protection for a light; a lantern or cased support for a candle; hence, a fixed hanging or projecting candlestick. Tapers put into lanterns or sconces of several-colored, oiled paper, that the wind might not annoy them. Evelyn. Golden sconces hang not on the walls. Dryden.