lance

¹

[ lans, lahns ]

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. 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.
5. a lancet.
6. oxygen lance.
7. Machinery.
   1. a tube having a nozzle for cleaning furnace walls and other inaccessible surfaces with air, water, or steam.
   2. 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.
3. to cut through (concrete or the like) with an oxygen lance.

lance

²

[ lans, lahns ]

noun

1. sand lance.

Lance

³

[ lans ]

noun

1. a male given name.

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
3. surgery another name for lancet
4. the sand lance See sand eel

verb

1. to pierce (an abscess or boil) with a lancet to drain off pus
2. to pierce with or as if with a lance

Other Words From

• lancelike adjective
• un·lanced adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of lance¹

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

Origin of lance²

First recorded in 1620–30; perhaps special use of lance ¹, from its shape

Word History and Origins

Origin of lance¹

C13 launce, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea

Example Sentences

Stephen, recruited for his ability to provide the necessary tools, had produced a 100-tonne jack, explosives, and a thermal lance, which heats and melts steel with pressurized oxygen to create very high temperatures.

From BBC

For them to catch fire, he says “it would take some spectacular lancing of the actual cells themselves, which would mean going through a very strong external structure”.

From BBC

This week, an Israeli missile lanced through his house, killing the 23 people inside, including more than a dozen women and two children.

From Los Angeles Times

Tournaments began as rougher, less “gentlemanly” affairs in which competitors rode against each other with lances and then proceeded to fight with close-quarters weapons ahorse or on foot.

From Salon

Even so, the cold lanced through, especially when it was windy.

From Literature