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lance

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lance¹

  • /lɑːns/ UK
  • /læns/ US

Rhymes with -ɑːns, -æns

Where it comes from

From Middle English launce, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea.

noun lances

  1. A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen. Thy brother’s blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, Broach’d with the steely point of Clifford’s lance[…]
  2. A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour. What will you do, good greybeard? Break a lance, And run a-tilt at Death within a chair?
  3. A whaling implement consisting of a long wooden shaft with a projecting iron shank tipped with a broad, leaf-shaped cutting blade, used to kill harpooned whales by repeated thrusts. ‘Stern all!’ and the harpooner tumbles aft and grips the steer oar, and the steersman takes his place in the head of the boat with his keen-edged lance.
  4. A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
  5. An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
  6. A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
  7. One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
  8. A lancet.
  9. A piece in the game of shogi that can move directly forward any number of squares.

verb lances · lancing · lanced

  1. To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon. Seiz'd the due Victim, and with Fury lanch'd Her Back
  2. To open with a lancet; to prick or cut open with a sharp instrument; to pierce. to lance a vein or an abscess
  3. To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.
  4. informal To steal or swipe. He lanced my drink and spiked it!
  5. To move suddenly and quickly.

Lance²

  • /lɑːns/ UK
  • /læns/ US

Rhymes with -ɑːns, -æns

Where it comes from

The surname is derived from a medieval given name Lanzo, short form of names beginning with the Germanic element *land; see land. Doublet of Lanzo.

proper noun Lances

  1. A surname originating as a patronymic.
  2. A diminutive of the male given name Lancelot.
  3. A male given name transferred from the surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: spear, shaft, lancet, gig, fizgig, fishgig, spike, launch, shoot, hose, nozzle, haul, couched, roll, hit, throw

Translations

Every language

noun spear or harpoon used by whalers

日本語簎, 矠 yasu
Françaislance
DeutschHarpune

noun weapon of war

Españollanza
日本語槍 yari, 矛 hoko
中文長矛 /长矛 chángmáo
Portuguêslança
Françaislance
DeutschLanze
Italianolancia
Ελληνικάλόγχη lónchi
Românălance, suliță, fuște
Русскийпи́ка píka
עבריתרֹמַח rómaẖ

noun wooden weapon used in jousting or tilting

Portuguêslança
Françaislance
DeutschLanze

noun (military) soldier armed with a lance

Españollancero
Portuguêslanceiro
Françaislance
DeutschLanzer
Românălăncier
Русскийкопейщик kopejščik

noun (military) instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordinance

DeutschHarpune mit Sprenggeschoss

verb to pierce with a lance

Italianoinfilzare

verb to pierce or open an abscess

Italianoincidere

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"lance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lance. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

lance. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lance

Chicago

"lance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lance.

BibTeX
@misc{lance_2026,
  title = {lance},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lance},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}