Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
LANCE
lancet, lance
(noun) a surgical knife with a pointed double-edged blade; used for punctures and small incisions
spear, lance, shaft
(noun) a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon
spear, gig, fizgig, fishgig, lance
(noun) an implement with a shaft and barbed point used for catching fish
lance
(verb) open by piercing with a lancet; “lance a boil”
lance
(verb) pierce with a lance, as in a knights’ fight
lance
(verb) move quickly, as if by cutting one’s way; “Planes lanced towards the shore”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Proper noun
Lance
A patronymic surname.
A male given name from Germanic languages, pet form of Lancelot or transferred use of the surname; by folk etymology associated with a lance.
Anagrams
• Calne, Lenca, ancle, clane, clean
Etymology
Noun
lance (plural lances)
A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.
A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.
(fishing) A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
(military) A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
(military) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
(founding) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
(pyrotechnics) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
(medicine) A lancet.
Verb
lance (third-person singular simple present lances, present participle lancing, simple past and past participle lanced)
To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.
To open with a lancet; to pierce
To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.
Anagrams
• Calne, Lenca, ancle, clane, clean
Source: Wiktionary
Lance, n. Etym: [OE. lance, F. lance, fr. L. lancea; cf. Gr. Launch.]
1. A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen, and often decorated with a small flag; also, a spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen. A braver soldier never couched lance. Shak.
2. A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
3. (Founding)
Definition: A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
4. (Mil.)
Definition: An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
5. (Pyrotech.)
Definition: 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.
Lance, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lanced (; p. pr. & vb. n. Lancing.]
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; as, to lance a vein or an abscess.
3. To throw in the manner of a lance. See Lanch.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
22 February 2025
ANALYSIS
(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., ‘the father of the bride’ instead of ‘the bride’s father’
Coffee Trivia
