lance

noun

1. 1

   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 Tapestry.

2. 2

   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?

3. 3

   A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.

4. 4

   A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.

5. 5

   An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.

6. 6

   A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.

7. 7

   One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.

8. 8

   A lancet.

9. 9

   A piece in the game of shogi that can move directly forward any number of squares.

verb

1. 1

   To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.

   Seiz'd the due Victim, and with Fury lanch'd Her Back

2. 2

   To open with a lancet; to prick or cut open with a sharp instrument; to pierce.

   to lance a vein or an abscess

3. 3

   To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.

4. 4

   informalTo steal or swipe.

   He lanced my drink and spiked it!

5. 5

   To move suddenly and quickly.

Forms

plural

lances

past tense

lanced

past participle

lanced

present participle

lancing

third person singular

lances