From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlancelance1 /lɑːns $ læns/ noun [countable] PMWa long thin pointed weapon that was used in the past by soldiers riding on horses
Examples from the Corpus
lance• The impact of this slavering beast on an enemy formation is just as effective as that of a Knight with a lance.• Men and horses went down like ninepins before them, in a tangle of waving limbs, flailing hooves and broken lances.• Then he thrust his lance into the vulnerable spot and killed the warrior.• Undesirable removal of lubricants may occur in machinery and hazards may arise in the use of steam lances.• The lance is represented by a nerve which has every likeness to the shape of that instrument.• The two settled their lances, rode at each other, and the pagan knight was slain.• They are armoured in shining silver and armed with white lances with diamond-hard tips which glitter like stars.lancelance2 verb [transitive] CUREto cut a small hole in someone’s flesh with a sharp instrument to let out pus (=yellow liquid produced by infection)→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
lance• Owners ask why abscesses can not be lanced early to help relieve pressure.• Salina arrived at the clinic with a grossly swollen foot which had to be lanced on the spot.• Even in my mind I found it extremely unwieldy trying to lance one - let alone 100,000 - from a charging steed.• A doctor carefully lanced the boil.• Then his arm was bathed and the wound was lanced with a knife and bathed again.• He was then lanced with a spear before his trial got under way, by the order of Emperor Maximilian.• I wince myself, lanced with regret at the foolish vanity that led me to mention this prospect.Origin lance1 (1200-1300) Old French Latin lancea 