Thesaurus results for LANCES

lances 1 of 2

noun

plural of lance

as in spears

a weapon with a long straight handle and sharp head or blade the lance struck squarely on the knight's shield, knocking him from his horse

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lances

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of lance

as in stabs

to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object doctors used to lance infected sores, so that they could drain clean

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of lances

Noun

In the end, director Duong, recognizing Aunt Hanh’s residual indignation, lances that boil. — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 4 Oct. 2026 Snow cannons and lances are the visible part of the snowmaking network. — ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026 Bottom cleaners use lances to scrape biofoul off hulls. — David Goldman, CNN Money, 23 June 2026 Um dos lances mais bonitos da nossa história. — Stuart James, New York Times, 16 June 2026 Warhorses charge, lances down, crashing through the tilts as lances break on shields and men topple from their steeds. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026 Three or four decades ago, the newspaperman was appealingly raffish—at once a bum who drank too much and a knight-errant who charged unafraid at social injustice, succored the weak, and crossed lances with the powerful and arrogant. — David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025 At a handful of locations, these spikes extended out to nearly a meter, looking more like lances than anything needed to ward off a close-in attack. — ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for lances

Noun

Each is almost seven by five feet, and most establish a broad field of color—blue, crimson, orange—across which migrate sharp and irregular shapes, some like long teeth or spears, others like shards of obsidian.

— Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026
Spears and a club The team found a pointed stick and two spears lying close to the antlered skulls of red deer.

— Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of spears

Verb

The sequence culminates in the Great Hall, where Ned kicks part of his broken cane to Colum, who stabs MacKinney in the leg.

— Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
But before Bane can finish him off, Batman stabs a Batarang into a little knob on Bane’s wrist gauntlet, the one that controls his intake of Venom.

— Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of stabs

Noun

Humans have been throwing javelins for a few hundred thousand years, yet performance has largely plateaued.

— R. Alexander Bentley, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2026
The Tofinu took refuge in the lagoons along the Bight of Benin, a core area of the slave trade, venturing forth in canoes with harpoons, javelins, and swords to fight off raiders from powerful nearby kingdoms.

— Laurent Dubois, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2026

Definition of javelins

Verb

The incidental findings problem Here is the number that punctures the marketing.

— Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 21 Sep. 2026
That’s because when a snake bites and punctures the skin and transfers venom into the victim’s body, the venom attacks the skin, soft tissue and connective tissue beneath it.

— Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2026

Definition of punctures

Verb

Christmas tree pins have a tiered configuration that compresses rather than pierces the ground (a win for modern synthetic or Mondo tracks).

— Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2026
An ice sculpture of a heart includes a tube through the ice arrow that pierces the heart.

— Peter Larsen, Oc Register, 10 July 2026

Definition of pierces

Verb

Rather than immediately running toward his destination on the opposite side of the field, Jefferson jabs at the defender to create even more separation.

— Alec Lewis, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Vance, El-Sayed exchange jabs over spouse comments The dispute also took a personal turn as the vice president condemned El-Sayed for comments about second lady Usha Vance.

— Melina Khan, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of jabs

Verb

The broadcaster and champion of the high street, who transformed the fortunes of Harvey Nichols, picks her favourites.

— The Week UK, TheWeek, 16 Oct. 2026
AutoCAM then suggests how to hold the part, picks the tools and generates the machining operations, followed by a material-removal simulation to check the job before any metal is cut.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of picks

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“Lances.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lances. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of lances

noun

verb

Example Sentences

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