lancet
Americannoun
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lancets
plural
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a small surgical instrument, usually sharp-pointed and two-edged, for making small incisions, opening abscesses, etc.
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Architecture.
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a lancet arch.
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noun
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Also called: lance. a pointed surgical knife with two sharp edges
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short for lancet arch lancet window
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lancet
1375–1425; late Middle English lancette < Middle French. See lance 1, -et
Explanation
The noun lancet describes a small, double-edged surgical knife used to make incisions. A lancer is a soldier bearing a long spear, called a lance, while a lancet is like a tiny spear — sharp on two sides and meant to pierce things. And though a soldier could wield a lancet, it's more likely to be used by a surgeon. A lancet arch is an architectural term used to describe an arch that peaks at the top. Most buildings with lancet arches are not places where you’d use a lancet, though.
Vocabulary lists containing lancet
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Fever 1793
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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:
A disposable lancet must pierce the skin, before drops of blood can be sucked into a pipette, mixed with a chemical and placed in the test cassette.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2025
That's the reality for ants infected with the lancet liver fluke, a tiny parasitic flatworm.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2023
Volunteers used a lancet to prick their fingertip and squeeze out droplets of blood that they deposited into sampling devices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2021
The rock sits on the south side of the nave at the heart of a stained glass design covering three lancet windows, depicting a vast cosmos of colorful swirls and dark celestial globes.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 15, 2019
He did not carry a lancet or bowl.
From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson
The installation will cover four window sections, or lancets, that are six feet tall and one-and-a-half-feet wide.
From New York Times ● Sep. 23, 2021
In 1805, their lobbying led the Vaccine Pock Institute in London to quiz Jesty about his experiment and he was presented with a scroll and gold lancets.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2021
But her diabetes test strips and lancets cost $120 for a three-month supply.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2018
The lancets used to prick fingers pose another problem.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 7, 2018
Its seven tall lancets are broken into four tiers, and surmounted by handsome tracery lights.
From Stained Glass Tours in England by Charles Hitchcock Sherrill
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.
