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Webster 1913 Edition

Spear

Spear

,
Noun.
[OE.
spere
, AS.
spere
; akin to D. & G.
speer
, OS. & OHS.
sper
, Icel. spjör, pl., Dan.
spaer
, L.
sparus
.]
1.
A long, pointed weapon, used in war and hunting, by thrusting or throwing; a weapon with a long shaft and a sharp head or blade; a lance.
[See Illust. of
Spearhead
.]
“A sharp ground spear.”
Chaucer.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their
spears
into pruning hooks.
Micah iv. 3.
2.
Fig.: A spearman.
Sir W. Scott.
3.
A sharp-pointed instrument with barbs, used for stabbing fish and other animals.
4.
A shoot, as of grass; a spire.
5.
The feather of a horse. See
Feather
,
Noun.
, 4.
6.
The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod.
Spear foot
,
the off hind foot of a horse.
–
Spear grass
.
(Bot.)
(a)
The common reed. See
Reed
,
Noun.
, 1.
(b)
meadow grass. See under
Meadow
.
–
Spear hand
,
the hand in which a horseman holds a spear; the right hand.
Crabb.
–
Spear side
,
the male line of a family.
Lowell.
–
Spear thistle
(Bot.)
,
the common thistle (
Cnicus lanceolatus
).

Spear

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Speared
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Spearing
.]
To pierce with a spear; to kill with a spear;
as, to
spear
a fish
.

Spear

,
Verb.
I.
To shoot into a long stem, as some plants. See
Spire
.
Mortimer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Spear

SPEAR

, n.
1.
A long pointed weapon, used in war and hunting by thrusting or throwing; a lance.
2.
A sharp pointed instrument with barbs; used for stabbing fish and other animals.
3.
A shoot, as of grass; usually spire.

SPEAR

,
Verb.
T.
To pierce with a spear; to kill with a spear; as, to spear a fish.

SPEAR

,
Verb.
I.
To shoot into a long stem. [See Spire.]

Definition 2024

Spear

Spear

See also: spear

English

Proper noun

Spear

  1. An English surname​.

Related terms

Anagrams

spear

spear

See also: Spear

English

Noun

spear ‎(plural spears)

  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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)
    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 187:
      Two of the four spears came directly from Lady Margaret's staff. One was her great-nephew Maurice St John […].
  3. A sharp tool 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) a running tackle on an opponent performed in professional wrestling.
  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

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

spear ‎(third-person singular simple present spears, present participle spearing, simple past and past participle speared)

  1. 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.
  2. (intransitive) To shoot into a long stem, as some plants do.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Mortimer to this entry?)

Translations

Anagrams

West Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *speru. Compare English spear, Dutch speer, German Speer.

Noun

spear c ‎(plural spearen, diminutive spearke)

  1. spear

Etymology

From Middle English spere ‎(“spear”), a nickname for a tall thin person or for someone who used a spear, or an occupational name for a maker of spears.

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