lance

noun

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[…]”

   “The head of the lance was commonly of the leaf form, and sometimes approached that of the lozenge; it was very seldom barbed, although this variety, together with the others, appears upon the Bayeux Tapestry.”

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 spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
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

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.

name

1. A surname originating as a patronymic.
2. A male given name from the Germanic languages; by folk etymology associated with a lance.
3. A male given name from the Germanic languages; by folk etymology associated with a lance.