lance

Definitions

1. 1.A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
2. 2.(Founding) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
3. 3.(Mil.) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
4. 4.(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. -- 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 (Zoöl.), 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.
5. 5.To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon. Seized the due victim, and with fury lanced Her back. Dryden.
6. 6.To open with a lancet; to pierce; as, to lance a vein or an abscess.
7. 7.To throw in the manner of a lance. See Lanch.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Related questions

• What does "lance" mean?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is lance.

• What is a small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell called?
• What is an instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home called?
• What is to pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon. Seized the due victim, and with fury lanced Her back. Dryden called?
• What is to open with a lancet; to pierce; as, to lance a vein or an abscess called?
• What is to throw in the manner of a lance. See Lanch called?