lance

  1. Proper noun.  (surname, patronymic) .
  2. Proper noun.  (given name, male) , pet form of Lancelot or transferred use of the surname; by folk etymology associated with a lance.
  3. Noun.  A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.
  4. Noun.  A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.
  5. Noun.  A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
  6. Noun.  (military) A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
  7. Noun.  (military) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
  8. Noun.  (context, Founding) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
  9. Noun.  (context, Pyrotechnics) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
  10. Noun.  (medicine) A lancet.
  11. Verb.  To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.
  12. Verb.  To open with a lancet; to pierce; as, to lance a vein or an abscess.
  13. Verb.  To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.