Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Lance
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.
A braver soldier never couched
lance
. Shakespeare
2.
A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
3.
(Founding)
A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
4.
(Mil.)
An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
5.
(Pyrotech.)
One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
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 and , and
– freelance
, Noun.
Adj.
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.
Lance
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Lanced
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Lancing
.] 1.
To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.
Seized the due victim, and with fury
Her back.
lanced
Her back.
Dryden.
2.
To open with a lancet; to pierce;
as, to
. lance
a vein or an abscess3.
To throw in the manner of a lance. See
Lanch
. Webster 1828 Edition
Lance
LANCE
,Noun.
A spear, an offensive weapon in form of a half pike, used by the ancients and thrown by the hand. It consisted of the shaft or handle, the wings and the dart.
LANCE
, v.t.1.
To pierce with a lance or with a sharp pointed instrument.- Seized the due victim, and with fury lanc'd her back.
2.
To pierce or cut; to open with a lancet; as, to lance a vein or an abscess.