lance definition | Dictionary.com

lance

1 [lans, lahns]

noun, verb, lanced, lanc⋅ing.

–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.	(initial capital letter) Military. a U.S. Army surface-to-surface rocket with a range of 47 mi. (75 km) and capable of carrying a tactical nuclear warhead.

a lancet.

6.	oxygen lance.

Machinery.

a.	a tube having a nozzle for cleaning furnace walls and other inaccessible surfaces with air, water, or steam.

b.	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)

8.	to open with or as if with a lancet.

9.	to pierce with a lance.

10.	to cut through (concrete or the like) with an oxygen lance.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME launce < OF lance < L lancea (perh. < Celtic)

Related forms:

lancelike, adjective

lance

2 [lans, lahns]

–noun

sand lance.

Origin:
perh. special use of lance ¹ , from its shape

Lance

[lans]

–noun

a male given name.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To lance

lance (lāns)

1. A thrusting weapon with a long wooden shaft and a sharp metal head.
2. A similar implement for spearing fish.
A cavalry lancer.
Medicine See lancet.

tr.v. lanced, lanc·ing, lanc·es

To pierce with a lance.
Medicine To make a surgical incision in; cut into: lance a boil.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin lancea, probably of Celtic origin.]

lan·cet (lān'sĭt)

Medicine A surgical knife with a short, wide, pointed double-edged blade, used especially for making punctures and small incisions. Also called lance.
Architecture
1. A lancet arch.
2. A lancet window.

[Middle English, from Old French, diminutive of lance, lance; see lance.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Lance

Lance\, n. [OE. lance, F. lance, fr. L. lancea; cf. Gr. ?. Cf. Launch.]

1. A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen, and often decorated with a small flag; also, a spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.

A braver soldier never couched lance. --Shak.

2. A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.

3. (Founding) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.

4. (Mil.) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.

5. (Pyrotech.) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.

Free lance, in the Middle Ages, and subsequently, a knight or roving soldier, who was free to engage for any state or commander that purchased his services; hence, a person who assails institutions or opinions on his own responsibility without regard to party lines or deference to authority.

Lance bucket (Cavalry), a socket attached to a saddle or stirrup strap, in which to rest the but of a lance.

Lance corporal, same as Lancepesade.

Lance knight, a lansquenet. --B. Jonson.

Lance snake (Zo["o]l.), the fer-de-lance.

Stink-fire lance (Mil.), a kind of fuse filled with a composition which burns with a suffocating odor; -- used in the counter operations of miners.

To break a lance, to engage in a tilt or contest.

Lance

Lance\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lanced; p. pr. & vb. n. Lancing.]

1. To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.

Seized the due victim, and with fury lanced Her back. --Dryden.

2. To open with a lancet; to pierce; as, to lance a vein or an abscess.

3. To throw in the manner of a lance. See Lanch.

Language Translation for : lance

Spanish: lanza,

German: die Lanze,

Japanese: やり

More Translations »

lance

c.1290, from O.Fr. lance, from L. lancea "light spear" (It. lancia, Sp. lanza, Ger. Lanze), possibly of Celt-Iberian origin. The verb meaning "to pierce with a lance" is from c.1300; the surgical sense (properly with ref. to a lancet) is from 1474. Lance corporal (1786) is from obsolete lancepesade "officer of lowest rank" (1578), from O.It. lancia spezzata "old soldier," lit. "broken lance."

Main Entry: ¹lance
Pronunciation: 'lan(t)s
Function: noun
: LANCET

Main Entry: ²lance
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: lanced; lanc·ing
: to open with or as if with a lancet : makean incision in or into <lance a boil> <lance a vein>

lance (lāns)
n.
See lancet. v. lanced, lanc·ing, lanc·es
To make an incision in, as with a lancet.

LANCE
Local Area Network Controller for Ethernet.
The alternative name for the Am7990 integrated circuit used in a Filtabyte Ethernet controller card.
(1995-02-15)

lance

spear used by cavalry for mounted combat. It usually consisted of a long wooden shaft with a sharp metal point. Its employment can be traced to the ancient Assyrians and Egyptians, and it was widely used by the Greeks and Romans, despite their lack of the stirrup, which did not appear until the 6th century AD

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