GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Lance (lăns), n. [OE. lance, F. lance, fr. L. lancea; cf. Gr. λόγχη.  Cf. Launch.]
   1. A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen, and often decorated with a small flag; also, a spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
   
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   A braver soldier never couched lance. Shak.
   
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   2. A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
   
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   3. (Founding) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
   
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   4. (Mil.) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
   
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   5. (Pyrotech.) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
   
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   6. (Med.) A lancet.
   
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   Free lance, in the Middle Ages, and subsequently, a knight or roving soldier, who was free to engage for any state or commander that purchased his services; hence, a person who assails institutions or opinions on his own responsibility without regard to party lines or deference to authority.  See also freelance, n. and a., and freelancer. -- Lance bucket (Cavalry), a socket attached to a saddle or stirrup strap, in which to rest the but of a lance. -- Lance corporal, same as Lancepesade. -- Lance knight, a lansquenet. B. Jonson. -- Lance snake (Zool.), the fer-de-lance. -- Stink-fire lance (Mil.), a kind of fuse filled with a composition which burns with a suffocating odor; -- used in the counter operations of miners. -- To break a lance, to engage in a tilt or contest.
   
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2.       
   Lance, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lanced (); p. pr. & vb. n. Lancing (?).]
   1. To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.
   
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   Seized the due victim, and with fury lanced
   
   Her back. Dryden.
   
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   2. To open with a lancet; to pierce; as, “to lance a vein or an abscess”.
   
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   3. To throw in the manner of a lance. See Lanch.
   
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