lance

Etymology

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

noun

1. A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.
   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. 1909, Charles Henry Ashdown, European Arms & Armor, page 65
2. A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.
3. (fishing) A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
4. (military) A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
5. (military) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
6. (metallurgy) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
7. (pyrotechnics) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
8. (medicine) A lancet.

verb

1. To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.
   Seized the due victim, and with fury lanced Her back. Dryden.
2. To open with a lancet; to pierce.
   to lance a vein or an abscess
3. To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.