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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

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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

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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

It was a kind of theatrical, fraternal, saber-rattling episode until Pacheco, perhaps misinterpreting some shouted orders, charged ahead alone with his long lance lowered, startling both sides.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

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

Stepping back he took the bronze-shod lance, and the young prince entered the cabin over the worn door stone.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

“It’s going to be a challenge as we go forward, but I think we know what the consumer is looking for,” said Lance Woelfer, Honda’s U.S. sales chief.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2026

In Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson in the governor's race, after he poured more than $200 million of his fortune into his bid, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, has been projected to win the governor's race in Georgia, becoming the first black governor and first woman to be elected to the state's highest office.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

“If those eggs were developing, it should be continuing,” said Dr. Lance Adams, the aquarium’s director of veterinary services.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

Officer Lance Houston of the state police says that because there was no sign of alcohol use and because the car wasn’t reported stolen, Daldry was not being charged with any offense.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

The videos on social media showed them dressed as knights in armour, complete with chainmail and lances, attempting to knock each other off the bikes.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

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

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

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

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

Even so, the cold lanced through, especially when it was windy.

From "Abel's Island" by William Steig

Alan Simpson, the former senator from Wyoming, brought an acute understanding of Washington’s foibles, and a reputation for lancing humor, to the task of remembering his friend.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 6, 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

With a muffled grunt, I throw my whole body toward the grate, wincing at the pain lancing through my torso.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

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