Library / English Dictionary

LANCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A surgical knife with a pointed double-edged blade; used for punctures and small incisions

Synonyms:

lance; lancet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lance" is a kind of...):

surgical knife (a very sharp knife used in surgery)

Derivation:

lance (open by piercing with a lancet)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon

Synonyms:

lance; shaft; spear

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lance" is a kind of...):

arm; weapon; weapon system (any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting)

Meronyms (parts of "lance"):

barb (a subsidiary point facing opposite from the main point that makes an arrowhead or spear hard to remove)

spear-point; spearhead; spearpoint (the head and sharpened point of a spear)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lance"):

assagai; assegai (the slender spear of the Bantu-speaking people of Africa)

javelin (a spear thrown as a weapon or in competitive field events)

trident (a spear with three prongs)

Derivation:

lance (pierce with a lance, as in a knights' fight)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An implement with a shaft and barbed point used for catching fish

Synonyms:

fishgig; fizgig; gig; lance; spear

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lance" is a kind of...):

implement (instrumentation (a piece of equipment or tool) used to effect an end)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lance"):

harpoon (a spear with a shaft and barbed point for throwing; used for catching large fish or whales; a strong line is attached to it)

leister (a spear with three or more prongs; used for spearing fish (especially salmon))

Holonyms ("lance" is a member of...):

fishing gear; fishing rig; fishing tackle; rig; tackle (gear used in fishing)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Open by piercing with a lancet

Example:

lance a boil

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "lance" is one way to...):

open; open up (cause to open or to become open)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

lance (a surgical knife with a pointed double-edged blade; used for punctures and small incisions)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Pierce with a lance, as in a knights' fight

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "lance" is one way to...):

pierce; thrust (penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

lance (a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move quickly, as if by cutting one's way

Example:

Planes lanced towards the shore

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "lance" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

He was tall and straight as a lance, though of a great age, for his hair, which curled from under his velvet cap of maintenance, was as white as the new-fallen snow.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Lord Audley of Cheshire, the hero of Poictiers, and Loring of Hampshire, who was held to be the second lance in the army, were easily fixed upon.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The tall and burly man is the Captal de Buch, whom I doubt not that you know, for a braver knight never laid lance in rest.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Bethink you that if a man have a destrier or a new lance he will ever try it in time of peace, lest in days of need it may fail him.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For armor, swords, and lances, there was no need to take much forethought, for they were to be had both better and cheaper in Bordeaux than in England.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Behind were the little clump of steel-clad horsemen, their lances raised, with long pensils drooping down the oaken shafts.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Both were famous warriors, but as their exploits had been performed in widely sundered countries, they had never before been able to cross lances.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

No plume or nobloy fluttered from his plain tilting salade, and even his lance was devoid of the customary banderole.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have heard of it from one of the archers of the guard, cried a bowman from among the straw; I hear that the prince wished to break a lance, but that Chandos would not hear of it, for the game is likely to be a rough one.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Sir Hugh Calverley and Sir Robert Knolles had not yet returned from their raid into the marches of the Navarre, so that the English party were deprived of two of their most famous lances.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)