fer-de-lance

[ fer-dl-ans, -ahns ]

/ ˌfɛr dlˈæns, -ˈɑns /

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noun

a large pit viper, Bothrops atrox, of tropical America.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of fer-de-lance

1875–80; <French: literally, spearhead

Words nearby fer-de-lance

feral child, ferbam, Ferber, ferberite, FERC, fer-de-lance, Ferdinand, Ferdinand and Isabella, Ferdinand I, Ferdinand II, Ferdinand III

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fer-de-lance in a sentence

We carry our umbrellas aloft in spite of the shade, and, shuddering, secretly envy the one who saw the Fer de Lance.
Gardens of the Caribbees, v. 1/2|Ida May Hill Starr
My friends white face tells the story; it was the Fer de Lance.
Gardens of the Caribbees, v. 1/2|Ida May Hill Starr
But the Fer-de-lance, whose nearest home is in Guiana, is not likely to have come on board ship.
At Last|Charles Kingsley
This is the terrible fer-de-lance whose bite is so much dreaded; but this serpent has never made its way into Porto Rico.
Our Little Porto Rican Cousin|Mary Hazelton Wade

He is either a fer de lance or a first cousin to it, and either is a sort of creature to keep away from.
The Hilltop Boys on Lost Island|Cyril Burleigh

British Dictionary definitions for fer-de-lance

fer-de-lance

/ (ˌfɛədəˈlɑːns) /

noun

a large highly venomous tropical American snake, Trimeresurus (or Bothops) atrox, with a greyish-brown mottled coloration: family Crotalidae (pit vipers)

Word Origin for fer-de-lance

C19: from French, literally: iron (head) of a lance

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012