ring-fence
verb
ring-fenced; ring-fencing; ring-fences
British
: to put (an amount of money) aside for a specific purpose
The money was ring-fenced for education programs.
Examples of ring-fence in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Part of this discount may be related to DuPont’s lingering liability around PFAS forever chemicals, despite the company’s multiple efforts to ring-fence and contain its legal exposure.
—
Jeff Marks, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2025
Retainment will be improved by spending £3million on Thorp Arch and ring-fencing £250,000 per year for expenses.
—Matt Slater, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
Taking these steps and approaches tabled here could help to pinpoint, ring-fence and mitigate the risks around data lake information and balance its role against the need for its protection.
—Adrian Bridgwater, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Additionally, officials within the Air Force told The New York Times that the Air Force was using funding initially ring-fenced for nuclear modernization to upgrade the new plane, which would explain why the $934 million transfer originated from the Pentagon's nuclear program.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 July 2025
The two sides have also discussed a potential ceiling for some sectors, as well as quotas for steel and aluminum and a way to ring-fence supply chains from sources that oversupply the metals, the people said.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 21 July 2025
Public health data should be ferociously ring-fenced and siloed and not routinely augmented by credit card, CCTV, or mass immigration data.
—Nicholas Wright, Foreign Affairs, 6 Apr. 2020
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Jeff Marks, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2025
Retainment will be improved by spending £3million on Thorp Arch and ring-fencing £250,000 per year for expenses.
—Matt Slater, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
Taking these steps and approaches tabled here could help to pinpoint, ring-fence and mitigate the risks around data lake information and balance its role against the need for its protection.
—Adrian Bridgwater, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Additionally, officials within the Air Force told The New York Times that the Air Force was using funding initially ring-fenced for nuclear modernization to upgrade the new plane, which would explain why the $934 million transfer originated from the Pentagon's nuclear program.
—Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 July 2025
The two sides have also discussed a potential ceiling for some sectors, as well as quotas for steel and aluminum and a way to ring-fence supply chains from sources that oversupply the metals, the people said.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 21 July 2025
Public health data should be ferociously ring-fenced and siloed and not routinely augmented by credit card, CCTV, or mass immigration data.
—Nicholas Wright, Foreign Affairs, 6 Apr. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Ring-fence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ring-fence. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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