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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

Ray’s mysterious and fraught history as a member of the British military during the Troubles is a festering boil this film will eventually lance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025

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 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

Joshua, 21, whose father Lance Corporal Christopher Bradshaw died in November 2011 in a road crash, asked: "When life takes its toll and things get tough, what do you do to de-stress and relax?"

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

"I just asked him in person if what he said was true the night before, and he said it was," Robinson's roommate Lance Twiggs told investigators in the taped interview.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

Lance Twiggs, the former roommate and romantic partner of Tyler Robinson, told investigators in a recorded interview that he spoke with Robinson in person the day after Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Lance Schroyer has ties with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin—but little federal government experience.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

From Matt Drinker, Lance Pierson, and, not as much, a kid named Corey McSpirit.

From "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" by Leslie Connor

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

The two ships were tilting at each other like jousters with spiked lances, the fog wafting around them as they prepared for battle.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

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

Tuchel answered questions about the owner's decision in his post-match interview with a great deal more composure than he did days before, as though it had somehow lanced the boil.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2022

That happened in the late 1990s at a league meeting in Atlanta, when a massive model of a renovated Coliseum tumbled off a table and lanced the back of Goodell’s ankle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2021

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

She reached as high as she could, but stinging pain lanced through her palms.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

For them to catch fire, he says “it would take some spectacular lancing of the actual cells themselves, which would mean going through a very strong external structure”.

From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2024

And there were plenty of lancing words about Chislett’s leadership.

From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2020

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

From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2016

Her mind was more agile, her tongue sharper, her wit more lancing.

From The New Yorker ● May 2, 2016

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

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo