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.

   Thy brother’s blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, Broach’d with the steely point of Clifford’s lance[…]

   c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], line 15

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   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.

   1909, Charles Henry Ashdown, European Arms & Armor, page 65

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?

   1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], line 49

3. A whaling implement consisting of a long wooden shaft with a projecting iron shank tipped with a broad, leaf-shaped cutting blade, used to kill harpooned whales by repeated thrusts.

   Again they changed positions and George was clutching the sweep while his father got the lance ready for’ard.

   1961, Tom Mead, Killers of Eden, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 36

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   ‘Stern all!’ and the harpooner tumbles aft and grips the steer oar, and the steersman takes his place in the head of the boat with his keen-edged lance.

   1899 August 28, The Grafton Argus and Clarence River General Advertiser, NSW, page 4, column 2

4. governmentA soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
5. governmentAn instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
6. engineeringA small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
7. pyrotechnicsOne of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
8. medicineA lancet.
9. A piece in the game of shogi that can move directly forward any number of squares.

present singular third person lances · participle present lancing · participle past lanced · past lanced

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

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

   1700, [John] Dryden, “Theodore and Honoria, from Boccace”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 268

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   ‘They’ve lanced him,’ George said with obvious relief. ‘He’s milling.’ ‘He’s what?’ the sailor asked. ‘Milling. Going round in a circle.’

   1961, Tom Mead, Killers of Eden, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 9

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

   to lance a vein or an abscess

3. To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.
4. informalTo steal or swipe.

   He lanced my drink and spiked it!

5. To move suddenly and quickly.

plural Lances

1. A surname originating as a patronymic.
2. A male given name from the Germanic languages; by folk etymology associated with a lance.
   1. A diminutive of the male given name Lancelot.
   2. A male given name transferred from the surname.