jackleg fence

plural jackleg fences

1. USA fence constructed with wooden posts attached to form Xs and a top rail resting where they cross, or rails nailed on either side.

   More meadowlarks were perching along the poles of the jackleg fence, their necklaced throats throbbing as they sang to the Sun.

   1991, Patricia Nell Warren, chapter 36, in One Is the Sun, New York: Ballantine, page 489

   1 more example

   The wind had blown the snow against the jackleg fences, and now only the top rail and anchor posts peeked out from beneath the drifts.

   1985, Sally Garrett, chapter 13, in Northern Fires, New York: Harlequin, page 213

   Synonyms: buck fence