lance

¹

[lans, lahns]

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.

verb (used with object)

lanced, lancing 

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

[lans, lahns]

noun

1. sand lance.

Lance

³

[lans]

noun

1. a male given name.

lance

/ 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

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

• lancelike adjective
• unlanced adjective

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of lance¹

C13 launce, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea

Example Sentences

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

Read more on Space Scoop

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.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

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.

Read more on BBC

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

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Stephen, recruited for his ability to provide the necessary tools, had produced a 100-tonne jack, explosives, and a thermal lance, which heats and melts steel with pressurized oxygen to create very high temperatures.

Read more on BBC