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lancer

[lan-ser, lahn-]
noun
  1. a cavalry soldier armed with a lance.
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Origin of lancer

From the Middle French word lancier, dating back to 1580–90. See lance1, -er2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lancer

Historical Examples

  • For reasons of his own the lancer colonel does not intrude his company on the captives.

    The Lone Ranche

    Captain Mayne Reid

  • Stevenson was yet speaking when a Lancer was seen approaching at a wild gallop.

    Blue Lights

    R.M. Ballantyne

  • Well, you must dress this lancer every morning in the same way.

  • I have made this hussar grasp a lancer by the throat, and thrust a sword into his side.

    Ralph Wilton's weird

    Mrs. Alexander

  • In comes an old 17th Lancer sergeant, and I tell him what has been done to my cartoon.

    An Autobiography

    Elizabeth Butler

British Dictionary definitions for lancer

lancer

noun
  1. (formerly) a cavalryman armed with a lance
    1. a member of a regiment retaining such a title
    2. (plural; capital when part of a name)the 21st Lancers
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See also lancers
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

Word Origin and History for lancer

n.

1580s, "soldier armed with a lance," from French lancier, from Old French lance (see lance (n.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper