lance

1
[ lans, lahns ]
See synonyms for lance on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. an implement resembling the weapon, as a spear for killing a harpooned whale.

  2. Lance, Military. a U.S. Army surface-to-surface rocket with a range of 47 miles (75 km) and capable of carrying a tactical nuclear warhead.

  3. a lancet.

  4. Machinery.

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

    • 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, lanc·ing.
  1. to open with or as if with a lancet.

  2. to pierce with a lance.

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

Origin of lance

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English launce, lance, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea (perhaps from Celtic)

Other words from lance

  • lancelike, adjective
  • un·lanced, adjective

Other definitions for lance (2 of 3)

lance2
[ lans, lahns ]

Origin of lance

2
First recorded in 1620–30; perhaps special use of lance1, from its shape

Other definitions for Lance (3 of 3)

Lance
[ lans ]

noun
  1. a male given name.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lance in a sentence

  • Suddenly the long beam of a searchlight lanced across the night sky above, then another and another.

    Valley of the Croen | Lee Tarbell
  • Quite suddenly came a soft sussuration overhead, a light-beam lanced down, pinning us there.

    Valley of the Croen | Lee Tarbell
  • When it withdrew the device hummed, then clicked three times as three separate hypodermic needles lanced into the skin.

    Deathworld | Harry Harrison
  • It becoming necessary, upon this, to send him to bed again and hold him in waiting to be lanced again, Bella did it.

    Our Mutual Friend | Charles Dickens
  • In dropping, the bandage of the arm unfastens, the recently lanced vein re-opens, and the blood streams out anew.

    The Iron Pincers | Eugne Sue

British Dictionary definitions for lance

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

  1. surgery another name for lancet

  2. the sand lance: See sand eel

verb(tr)
  1. to pierce (an abscess or boil) with a lancet to drain off pus

  2. to pierce with or as if with a lance

Origin of lance

1
C13 launce, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea

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