Lexic.us

Definition of Lance

1. Verb. Move quickly, as if by cutting one's way. "Planes lanced towards the shore"

2. Noun. A long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon.

3. Verb. Pierce with a lance, as in a knights' fight.

4. Noun. An implement with a shaft and barbed point used for catching fish.

5. Verb. Open by piercing with a lancet. "Lance a boil"

6. Noun. A surgical knife with a pointed double-edged blade; used for punctures and small incisions.

Definition of Lance

1. n. 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.

2. v. t. To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.

Definition of Lance

1. Proper noun. (surname patronymic from=given names) ¹

2. Proper noun. (Germanic male given name), pet form of Lancelot or transferred use of the surname; by folk etymology associated with a lance. ¹

3. Noun. A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen. ¹

4. Noun. A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour. ¹

5. Noun. (fishing) A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen. ¹

6. Noun. (military) A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer. ¹

7. Noun. (military) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home. ¹

8. Noun. (context: Founding) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell. ¹

9. Noun. (context: Pyrotechnics) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure. ¹

10. Noun. (medicine) A lancet. ¹

11. Verb. To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon. ¹

12. Verb. To open with a lancet; to pierce; as, to lance a vein or an abscess. ¹

13. Verb. To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Lance

1. to pierce with a lance (a spearlike weapon) [v LANCED, LANCING, LANCES]

Medical Definition of Lance

1. 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. A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell. 4. An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home. 5. 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, a kind of fuse filled with a composition which burns with a suffocating odour; used in the counter operations of miners. To break a lance, to engage in a tilt or contest. Origin: OE. Lance, F. Lance, fr. L. Lancea; cf. Gr. Cf. Launch. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Lance

lamrim lams lamster lamsters lana lanai lanais lanaries lanarkite lanary

lanas lanate lanated lanatoside D lanatosides lance-corporal lance-jack lance-jacks lance corporal lance corporals

lance fish lanced lancefish lancefishes lancegay lancegays lancehead lanceless lancelet

Literary usage of Lance

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1899)
"At Antioch,' said the apostle, " in the church of my brother St. Peter, near the high altar, is concealed the steel head of the lance thai pierced the side ..."

2. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1902)
""At Antioch,'' said the apostle, " in the church of my brother St Peter, near the high altar, is concealed the steel head of the lance that pierced the side ..."

3. The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and by Hugh Chisholm (1911)
"As to the question of the relative efficiency of the lance and the sword as the principal arm for cavalry, it is alleged that the former is heavy and ..."

4. The Complete Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott by Walter Scott (1900)
"XIII Here must they pause; for, in advance As far as one might pitch a lance, The monarch rode along the van, The foe's approaching force to scan, ..."

5. Punch by Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew, Tom Taylor, Shirley Brooks, Francis Cowley Burnand, Owen Seaman (1888)
"He '11 find, for all his valorous vaunts, The dolts whose shields I strike ; But anyhow my lance is free To couch "gainst whom I like. First Free lance. ..."

6. A History of the Earth and Animated Nature by Oliver Goldsmith (1856)
"The arms in this combat, seemingly so dangerous, are only a lance of two or three yards long, made of heavy wood, with the point bar- dened in the fire ..."

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