spearman
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of spearman
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at spear 1, man
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:
To this Peiraios the good spearman answered: “Aye, stay in the wild country while you will, I shall be looking after him, Telemakhos. He will not lack good lodging.”
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
The first guard appeared as they neared die horse lines, a lean spearman whose maroon beard marked him as Tyroshi.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
This man’s son had served under the great Odysseus, gone in the decked ships with him to the wild horse country of Troy—a spearman, Antiphos by name.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
The other circumstance was still more appalling; the space behind, left vacant by his advance, was occupied no longer by foot or horse, by treasure-bearer or prisoner, by Spanish musketeer or Tlascalan spearman.
From Calavar or The Knight of The Conquest, A Romance of Mexico by Bird, Robert Montgomery
Thou art not youthful in years, and thy only attendant is agéd; How, if a spearman arise in thy way, may his arm be resisted?
From Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 365, March, 1846 by Various
In Homer’s “Iliad,” for instance, the Abantes, a faction of spearmen, are described as having “hair long at the back.”
From New York Times ● May 17, 2022
A key military development unique to Greece was the phalanx: a unit of spearmen standing in a dense formation, with each using his shield to protect the man to his left.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020
He’s waiting for a certain young lady and her dragons before he commits his Dornish spearmen to battle.
From Forbes ● Jun. 8, 2015
It seems unfair to Scotty that spearmen anxious to skewer a meal should be bothered by a fish with the nasty habit of fighting back.
From Time Magazine Archive
From the havens of Harad ships of war put out to sea; and out of the East Men were moving endlessly: swordsmen, spearmen, bowmen upon horses, chariots of chieftains and laden wains.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
