English
lance
see also: Lance
Pronunciation Noun

lance (plural lances)

  1. A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.
    • 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III, Act II, Scene III, line 15.
      Thy brother’s blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, Broach’d with the steely point of Clifford’s lance...
    • 1909, Charles Henry Ashdown, European Arms & Armor, page 65.
      The head of the lance was commonly of the leaf form, and sometimes approached that of the lozenge; it was very seldom barbed, although this variety, together with the others, appears upon the Bayeux Tapestry.
  2. A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.
  3. (fishing) A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
  4. (military) A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
  5. (military) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
  6. (founding) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
  7. (pyrotechnics) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
  8. (medicine) A lancet.
Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • German: Harpune mit Sprenggeschoss
Verb

lance (lances, present participle lancing; past and past participle lanced)

  1. To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.
    Seized the due victim, and with fury lanced Her back. Dryden.
  2. To open with a lancet; to pierce
    to lance a vein or an abscess
  3. To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.
Translations Translations
Lance
Proper noun
  1. Surname
  2. A male given name, pet form of Lancelot or transferred use of the surname; by folk etymology associated with a lance.


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