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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

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

The unrest began in mid-March but has intensified, leaving at least three dead as vigilantes armed with spears, clubs, and whips assaulted migrants and destroyed their homes.

— Lauren Morganbesser, semafor.com, 28 June 2026
Mexico were being booed, booed furiously, but even that low rumble failed to drown out the whistles, hurled from the stands of the Estadio Akron with the ferocity and barb of spears.

— Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 19 June 2026

Definition of spears

Verb

Kara talks her out of it, and when Ruthye walks away, Kara turns back to Krem and stabs him multiple times with a sword.

— Brian Truitt, USA Today, 27 June 2026
On cue, a Frey leaps out and stabs Robb’s pregnant wife Talisa (Oona Chaplin) in the stomach, and a volley of crossbow arrows lay into Robb and his friends.

— EW Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 25 June 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

Commentary and opinions In his latest column, Michael Hiltzik punctures the myth of Alan Greenspan, whose policies gave us the Great Recession.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026
If a foreign object punctures the tread or sidewall, your tire can deflate slowly or quickly, depending on the puncture.

— Jason Fogelson, AJC.com, 29 May 2026

Definition of punctures

Verb

Continue reading … OUT OF LEFT FIELD — Tom Hanks jokingly jabs MS NOW while speaking with reporter live on the network.

— , FOXNews.com, 19 June 2026
But following elite competition is nearly impossible, with subtle flicks and jabs practically invisible to the naked eye—and competitors hidden behind masks.

— Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 25 Apr. 2026

Definition of jabs

Verb

Instead, the forward now picks his moments, strolling around the pitch to find space and then exploding into action.

— Ben Church, CNN Money, 15 July 2026
Subscribe here to our newsletter In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best new reviews and streaming picks along with some exclusive musings — all only available to subscribers.

— David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 15 July 2026

Definition of picks

Verb

The standout episode—the conversion history of Kendra, a Black striver married to the Schwoopers’ daughter, Shira—sticks its landing, enabling the viewer to see faith as a refuge, not a cage.

— Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 9 July 2026
Otherwise, Kail sticks closely to the template established for him, recreating every scene and sequence from the first movie with ruthless fidelity and adding essentially no departures of any significance.

— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 8 July 2026

Definition of sticks

Browse Nearby Words

lancers

lances

lancing

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Lances.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lances. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of lances

noun

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster on lances

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

obdurate

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Games & Quizzes