Adjacent Words

Lance definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LANCE, n. l'ans. [L. lancea; Gr.]
A spear, an offensive weapon in form of a half pike, used by the ancients and thrown by the hand. It consisted of the shaft or handle, the wings and the dart.
LANCE, v.t.
1. To pierce with a lance or with a sharp pointed instrument.
- Seized the due victim, and with fury lanc'd her back.
2. To pierce or cut; to open with a lancet; as, to lance a vein or an abscess.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon [syn: spear, lance, shaft]
2: an implement with a shaft and barbed point used for catching fish [syn: spear, gig, fizgig, fishgig, lance]
3: a surgical knife with a pointed double-edged blade; used for punctures and small incisions [syn: lancet, lance] v
1: move quickly, as if by cutting one's way; "Planes lanced towards the shore"
2: pierce with a lance, as in a knights' fight
3: open by piercing with a lancet; "lance a boil"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin lancea Date: 14th century 1. a steel-tipped spear carried by mounted knights or light cavalry 2. any of various sharp objects suggestive of a lance: as a. lancet b. a spear used for killing whales or fish 3. lancer 1b II. verb (lanced; lancing) Etymology: Middle English launcen, from Anglo-French lancer, from Late Latin lanceare, from Latin lancea Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to pierce with or as if with a lance b. to open with or as if with a lancet <lance a boil> 2. to throw forward ; hurl intransitive verb to move forward quickly

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a a long weapon with a wooden shaft and a pointed steel head, used by a horseman in charging. b a similar weapon used for spearing a fish, killing a harpooned whale, etc. 2 a metal pipe supplying oxygen to burn metal. 3 = LANCER. --v.tr. 1 Surgery prick or cut open with a lancet. 2 pierce with a lance. 3 poet. fling; launch. Phrases and idioms: break a lance (usu. foll. by for, with) argue. lance-bombardier a rank in the Royal Artillery corresponding to lance-corporal in the infantry. lance-corporal the lowest rank of NCO in the Army. lance-jack Brit. sl. a lance-corporal or lance-bombardier. lance-sergeant a corporal acting as sergeant. lance-snake = FER DE LANCE. Etymology: ME f. OF lancier f. L lancea: lance-corporal on analogy of obs. lancepesade lowest grade of NCO ult. f. It. lancia spezzata broken lance

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lance Lance, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lanced; p. pr. & vb. n. Lancing.] 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; as, to lance a vein or an abscess. 3. To throw in the manner of a lance. See Lanch.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lance Lance, n. [OE. lance, F. lance, fr. L. lancea; cf. Gr. ?. Cf. Launch.] 1. A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen, and often decorated with a small flag; also, a spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen. A braver soldier never couched lance. --Shak. 2. A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer. 3. (Founding) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell. 4. (Mil.) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home. 5. (Pyrotech.) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure. Free lance, in the Middle Ages, and subsequently, a knight or roving soldier, who was free to engage for any state or commander that purchased his services; hence, a person who assails institutions or opinions on his own responsibility without regard to party lines or deference to authority. Lance bucket (Cavalry), a socket attached to a saddle or stirrup strap, in which to rest the but of a lance. Lance corporal, same as Lancepesade. Lance knight, a lansquenet. --B. Jonson. Lance snake (Zo["o]l.), the fer-de-lance. Stink-fire lance (Mil.), a kind of fuse filled with a composition which burns with a suffocating odor; -- used in the counter operations of miners. To break a lance, to engage in a tilt or contest.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(lances, lancing, lanced) 1. If a boil on someone's body is lanced, a small cut is made in it so that the liquid inside comes out. (MEDICAL) It is a painful experience having the boil lanced. VERB: usu passive, have n V-ed, also be V-ed 2. A lance is a long spear used in former times by soldiers on horseback. ...the clang of lances striking armour. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Spear, javelin. II. v. a. 1. Hurl, throw, launch, dart, send, fling, toss, pitch, jaculate, let fly. 2. Pierce, cut with a lancet.

Moby Thesaurus

amputate, assegai, auger, ax, bayonet, bisect, bite, bore, bowl, broach, butcher, carve, cast, catapult, chop, chuck, chunk, cleave, countersink, cut, cut away, cut in two, cut off, dagger, dart, dash, dichotomize, dirk, dissever, drill, empierce, excise, fire, fissure, fix, fling, flip, fork, gash, gore, gouge, gouge out, hack, halve, heave, hew, hole, honeycomb, hurl, hurtle, impale, incise, javelin, jerk, jigsaw, knife, lancet, launch, let fly, lob, needle, open, pare, pass, peg, pelt, penetrate, perforate, pierce, pike, pink, pitch, pitchfork, plunge in, poniard, prick, prune, punch, puncture, put, put the shot, ream, ream out, rend, riddle, rive, run through, saber, saw, scissor, serve, sever, shy, skewer, slash, slice, sling, slit, snap, snip, spear, spike, spit, split, stab, stick, stiletto, sunder, sword, tap, tear, throw, tilt, toss, transfix, transpierce, trepan, trephine, whittle