/lɑːns/, /læns/
OriginFrom Middle English launce, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea.
- A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.
“Thy brother’s blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, Broach’d with the steely point of Clifford’s lance[…]”
“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 T”
- A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.
“What will you do, good greybeard? Break a lance, And run a-tilt at Death within a chair?”
- A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
- A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
- An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
- A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
- One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
- A lancet.
- A piece in the game of shogi that can move directly forward any number of squares.
- Prick or cut open with a sharp instrument.
- Pierce with or as if with a lance.
- Move suddenly and quickly
- To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.
“Seiz'd the due Victim, and with Fury lanch'd Her Back”
- To open with a lancet; to pierce.
“to lance a vein or an abscess”
- To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.
- informalto steal or swipe
“He lanced my drink and spiked it!”
- A surname originating as a patronymic.
- A diminutive of the male given name Lancelot.
- A male given name transferred from the surname.
Formslances(plural) · lances(present, singular, third-person) · lancing(participle, present) · lanced(participle, past) · lanced(past) · Lances(plural)
Source: Wiktionary