lance
noun
a long wooden shaft with a pointed metal head, used as a weapon by knights and cavalry soldiers in charging.
lance
1 American
[lans, lahns]
/ læns, lɑns /
noun
-
a long wooden shaft with a pointed metal head, used as a weapon by knights and cavalry soldiers in charging.
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a cavalry soldier armed with such a weapon; lancer.
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an implement resembling the weapon, as a spear for killing a harpooned whale.
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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.
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a lancet.
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Machinery.
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a tube having a nozzle for cleaning furnace walls and other inaccessible surfaces with air, water, or steam.
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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)
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lances,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lanced,
past participle, past
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lancing
present participle
-
to open with or as if with a lancet.
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to pierce with a lance.
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to cut through (concrete or the like) with an oxygen lance.
lance
2
American
[lans, lahns]
/ læns, lɑns /
noun
Lance
3
American
[lans]
/ læns /
noun
lance
British
/ lɑːns /
noun
verb
-
to pierce (an abscess or boil) with a lancet to drain off pus
-
to pierce with or as if with a lance
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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lancesimple
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lancessimple
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have lancedperfect
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has lancedperfect
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am lancingprogressive
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are lancingprogressive
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is lancingprogressive
-
have been lancingperfect progressive
-
has been lancingperfect progressive
Past
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lancedsimple
-
had lancedperfect
-
was lancingprogressive
-
were lancingprogressive
-
had been lancingperfect progressive
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing lance
Of Mice and Men
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Hatchet
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Much Ado About Nothing
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
Aircraft engineers can get £30,000 if they sign up for a further three years, with privates and lance corporals eligible for £8,000 for four years.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 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
He leveled his lance, aiming right between the dragon’s eyes.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Lance got the start and played deep into the third quarter, completing 12 of 20 passes for 164 yards with an interception.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Harbaugh said backup signal-callers DJ Uiagalelei and Trey Lance will each play one half against the Texans as they battle to be Justin Herbert’s primary replacement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
ConocoPhillips CFO Andy O’Brien is the latest finance chief to step into the top job, with current CEO Ryan Lance retiring next month after 14 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Lance, by contrast, is a petroleum engineer who started his career handling oil field data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Matt and Lance march out of the tall grass across the pond.
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
I reveled in long ships with oars; I loved polished lances, arrows in the skirmish, the shapes of doom that others shake to see.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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
She later confessed that the stress of stardom caused her to develop a "boil on the bum" that had to be lanced hours before performing live on Dutch TV.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2022
But then Spain finally lanced the boil at Euro 2008, beating the Azzurri on penalties in the quarters en route to their first major title in 44 years.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 6, 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
Panic lanced through him at the thought of remaining married; without Ifemelu, the future loomed as an endless, joyless tedium.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
There I was: doting on my Spanish mother, eating paella, lancing bulls.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2022
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
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
Because she was heavily sedated, Pita slept through the lancing and compressing and didn’t come back around until Abuelita Remedios was done wrapping her leg with a pale thin gauze.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
