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• lance
  lance

  noun

  a long wooden shaft with a pointed metal head, used as a weapon by knights and cavalry soldiers in charging.
• Lance
  Lance

  noun

  a male given name.

lance

¹ American  

[lans, lahns] / læns, lɑns /

noun

1. a long wooden shaft with a pointed metal head, used as a weapon by knights and cavalry soldiers in charging.

2. a cavalry soldier armed with such a weapon; lancer.

3. an implement resembling the weapon, as a spear for killing a harpooned whale.

4. Military. Lance, a U.S. Army surface-to-surface rocket with a range of 47 miles (75 km) and capable of carrying a tactical nuclear warhead.

5. a lancet.

6. oxygen lance.

7. Machinery.

   1. a tube having a nozzle for cleaning furnace walls and other inaccessible surfaces with air, water, or steam.

   2. a pipe for directing oxygen onto a heated metal object in order to burn a hole in it, the lance also being consumed so as to add to the heat.

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verb (used with object)

• lances,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lanced,
  past participle,  past
• lancing
  present participle

1. to open with or as if with a lancet.

2. to pierce with a lance.

3. to cut through (concrete or the like) with an oxygen lance.

lance ² American  

[lans, lahns] / læns, lɑns /

noun

1. sand lance.

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Lance ³ American  

[lans] / læns /

noun

1. a male given name.

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lance British  

/ lɑːns /

noun

1. a long weapon with a pointed head used by horsemen to unhorse or injure an opponent

2. a similar weapon used for hunting, whaling, etc

3. surgery another name for lancet

4. the sand lance See sand eel

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verb

1. to pierce (an abscess or boil) with a lancet to drain off pus

2. to pierce with or as if with a lance

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lancelike
  adjective
• unlanced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• lancing
  present
• lanced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lance
  simple
• lances
  simple
• have lanced
  perfect
• has lanced
  perfect
• am lancing
  progressive
• are lancing
  progressive
• is lancing
  progressive
• have been lancing
  perfect progressive
• has been lancing
  perfect progressive

Past

• lanced
  simple
• had lanced
  perfect
• was lancing
  progressive
• were lancing
  progressive
• had been lancing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lance
  simple
• will have lanced
  perfect
• will be lancing
  progressive
• will have been lancing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of lance¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English launce, lance, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea (perhaps from Celtic)

Origin of lance²

First recorded in 1620–30; perhaps special use of lance ¹, from its shape

Explanation

A warrior during the Middle Ages most often carried a lance, or a long, pointed spear, as a weapon. Throughout history, soldiers mounted on horseback have often carried some variation of a lance — something long and sharp for jabbing at enemy warriors. Lances were carried as far back as ancient Roman armies and as recently as Plains Indians after they were introduced to horses in the eighteenth century. The Latin root word, lancea , means "light spear" or "Spanish spear."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lance Lance lances lanced lancing

The scene that best defines the story’s idealism happens long before Dunk gets clunked in the head or skewered by a lance.

From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026

Saint George is widely known as Christianity's most famous dragon slayer and is commonly depicted as a warrior holding a lance.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 2, 2026

Two opposing galaxies play the role of knights, with one galaxy pointing a lance made of pure radiation right at the other!

From Space Scoop ● May 21, 2025

The sustenance is presided over by a sculpture of an Amazonian woman, who wields a squeegee rather than a lance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2025

The lazy motion with which the lance goes up, turning over silently and languidly as it goes, contrasts with this.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Lance Hastings, chief executive of the California Manufacturers & Technology Assn., said in a statement Friday that the governor’s veto protects “the ability of manufacturers to innovate and create here in California.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

In an era in which everyone howls about everything, and ranting in public is considered negotiation, head coach Lance Taylor refused to lash out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

For the second straight season, Lance will back up Herbert.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

A morally questionable reporter-turned TV host is the protagonist of Lance Oppenheim's "Primetime", based on the real-life NBC television show "To Catch a Predator" that unmasked paedophiles after luring them to staged meetings with minors.

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

Lance Winters was all over our living room that night.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

Farther away, at the Glogow smelter, two workers in protective suits, armed with long lances, open huge furnaces where the ore is melted.

From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026

Unlike his two friends, Mr. Spielberg didn’t want to tilt lances at the studios, make great art or change the world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

Sunlight lances through the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Silver Lake Boulevard.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2024

Medieval English knights donned armor, mounted highly trained horses, and jousted with long lances in spectacular ritual combats.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 21, 2024

Streamers of pale blue silk fluttered from their lances, whilst fork-tailed blue-and-white banners flew overhead, the standards of the Windblown.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Ministers also argued that at a time of geopolitical uncertainty, when old allies were less reliable and new partnerships had to be formed, the Chagos row was a diplomatic boil than needed to be lanced.

From BBC ● May 22, 2025

They fell often, lanced their hands on spiked trees, dragged boots filled with mud and at times collapsed from exhaustion.

From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2023

I saw a better doctor the day I arrived in Whitehorse; gently holding my head with one hand, she lanced the infection.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 30, 2019

As the name suggests, Ravi specializes in kebabs, and you can view the options in the refrigerated case, each lanced on a skewer and ready for a trip to the charcoal grill.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 18, 2019

A queer brilliance lanced through billowing smoke, and the people of Weep had to squint against it.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Gadsby wields her craft like a weapon, lancing out the trauma and forcing us to look at it.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 26, 2018

It received some boos at its first press screening, but got heady reviews, with Screen Daily calling it a “a devouring and restless experience: a creative surge that’s like the lancing of a boil.”

From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2017

The lyric is addressed to someone he calls "a doctor specialising in lancing boils".

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2017

Hailee Steinfeld stars as Nadine, a beguiling blend of charisma, lancing intelligence, and hostile insecurity.

From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2016

The full moon looked less like a jewel than a yellowy blister in need of lancing.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo