spear

Etymology 1

From Middle English spere, sperre, spear, from Old English spere, from Proto-West Germanic *speru, from Proto-Germanic *speru, from Proto-Indo-European *sperH-. Cognates See also West Frisian spear, Dutch speer, German Speer, Old Norse spjǫr, *sparrô, Middle Dutch sparre (“rafter”), Old Norse sparri (“spar, rafter”), sperra (“rafter, beam”); also Latin sparus (“short spear”), Albanian ferrë (“thorn, thornbush”).

noun

1. A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion.
2. (now chiefly historical) A soldier armed with such a weapon; a spearman.
   Two of the four spears came directly from Lady Margaret's staff. One was her great-nephew Maurice St John […]. 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 187
3. A lance with barbed prongs, used by fishermen to retrieve fish.
4. (ice hockey) An illegal maneuver using the end of a hockey stick to strike into another hockey player.
5. (wrestling) In professional wrestling, a running tackle in which the wrestler's shoulder is driven into the opponent's midsection.
6. A shoot, as of grass; a spire.
7. The feather of a horse.
8. The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod.
9. A long, thin strip from a vegetable.
   asparagus and broccoli spears

verb

1. (transitive) To pierce with a spear.
   By the 1970s, herders were spearing rhinos and poisoning lions to protest the loss of their land to conservation, then represented by the independent Kenyan government. 2012, Robin Reid, Savannas of Our Birth
2. (transitive, by extension) To penetrate or strike with, or as if with, any long narrow object; to make a thrusting motion that catches an object on the tip of a long device.
   Former teammate Derek Sanderson recalls that Maki hit Ted from behind as Green was clearing the puck from the Boston zone. Green turned to knock Maki down, but Maki speared him as he rose from the ice. 2003, Stan Fischler, Shirley Fischler, Who's who in Hockey
3. (gridiron football) To tackle an opponent by ramming into them with one's helmet.
4. (intransitive) To shoot into a long stem, as some plants do.
5. (transitive, obsolete, social, esp. Regency England) To ignore as a social snub.
   The Monthly Magazine, Or, British Register for 1798 included an explanation by a reader of how the cut was carried out in his college days in a lengthy letter to the editor, signed by the pseudonym "Ansonius." In his rambling letter, Ansonius noted that when he was at college, " … if a man passed an old acquaintance wittingly, without recognizing him, he was said— ‘To cut him.’" Ansonius then went on to explain the performance of the cut and noted that for a time the term "to spear" was used instead of to cut. However, that term did not remain long in use, and this act was generally known as "the cut" ever after. 27 September 2013, Kane, Kathryn, The Regency Redingote Blog The Cut: The Ultimate & Final Social Weapon

adj

1. Male.
   a spear counterpart
   When I was young, I was so desperate I'd go looking on the spear side. 2018, A Very English Scandal (TV series), episode 1
2. Pertaining to male family members.
   the spear side of the family

Etymology 2

Alteration of spire, from Middle English spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr (“stalk of a plant, shoot, blade”). More at spire.

noun

1. (botany) The sprout of a plant, stalk
2. (obsolete) A church spire.