How to Use lance in a Sentence

lance

1 of 2 noun
  • Louis offered a vast sum for the Crown of Thorns and parts of the lance, the sponge, and the Cross.
    — Bruce Dale, National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019
  • The goal was to use the lance to knock the other competitor off their horse.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 3 Aug. 2022
  • But one day, Averill and his friends came across a lance in their path.
    — Outside Online, 10 May 2020
  • This is the scene that began the running joke of Pod's huge trouser lance.
    — Matt Miller, Esquire, 12 Sep. 2017
  • So, in the end, one of the dragons died—hit with some sort of doomsday White Walker lance.
    — Matt Miller, Esquire, 21 Aug. 2017
  • Everybody knows about the fer-de-lance, which is the deadly pit viper.
    — Jerry Beilinson, Popular Mechanics, 9 Oct. 2013
  • She comes home having been injured by the butt of a guard’s lance and dies a few days later.
    — Christine Smallwood, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020
  • Above the birdlike forefoot of a knight, Above Quixote’s birdlike lance.
    — Osip Mandelstam, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022
  • Carrie Napoleon is a free-lance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
    — Carrie Napoleon, Post-Tribune, 14 Oct. 2017
  • Carrie Napoleon is a free-lance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
    — Carrie Napoleon, Post-Tribune, 4 July 2017
  • The sharp lance has been a big help, and getting blackheads out is much easier.
    — Sam Peters, ELLE, 21 Jan. 2023
  • The knights are not humans but New Zealand giraffe weevils, a species of beetle with a snout like a lance.
    — New York Times, 13 Aug. 2021
  • When demonstrating, the widow wields a rainbow flag like a lance and glares at passersby who fail to pick up a leaflet.
    — Monika Rębała, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 May 2020
  • Others used machetes to hack off spear and lance points, and then decapitate their foes.
    — Scott Dalton, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 July 2022
  • Each shining bonnet guarded by stern lance-like leaves.
    — WSJ, 13 Sep. 2022
  • Echoes of the legend raise the question of whether the lance buried with the woman at Gerdrup was actually a sorceress’ staff.
    — Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Oct. 2020
  • This is why Nietzsche believed that all of life is a question of taste, and why Marx said the epic battles of the modern world will be fought not with lance and sword, but with dry goods.
    — A-LIST, 2 Oct. 2017
  • Its glossy, lance-shape leaves arch gracefully from a central clump of stems, and can be plain green or variegated.
    — Viveka Neveln, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Sep. 2022
  • Jaime Lannister is seen on horseback riding across a scorched battlefield with a lance in his hand.
    — Joe Otterson, chicagotribune.com, 21 June 2017
  • Like the woman, who was buried about 260 feet away, the man showed signs of high social standing, wielding a sword, shield and lance and wearing a complete warrior outfit.
    — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 31 July 2019
  • Garrett Johnston has covered 30 majors as a free lance writer for ten years.
    — Garrett Johnston, Dallas News, 10 Nov. 2020
  • Nancy worked for the phone company and was an avid free-lance photographer.
    — Hartford Courant, courant.com, 13 July 2018
  • The fact that the woman was buried with what appeared to be a lance helped overturn scholars’ assumptions about gender in Viking society.
    — Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Oct. 2020
  • Many gig workers are free-lance workers like designers, artists and writers.
    — Bruce Rogers, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2021
  • But in this award-winning photo, the flag wasn't unfurled, but unleashed as a lance against a Black man by enraged white youths protesting Boston's busing plan.
    — Star Tribune, 15 Jan. 2021
  • 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
  • The washer includes a spray gun and spray lance, plus a high-pressure hose.
    — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Powered from within, grass seedlings lance out roots and stems, beating any competition.
    — Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
  • The two brothers-in-law broke 12 lances against one another before Hardyng won the day.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 7 Feb. 2026

lance

2 of 2 verb
  • He had the boil on his arm lanced.
  • The jet lanced the side of the tanker; the impact was shattering.
    — Robert Faturechi, ProPublica, 2 Jan. 2020
  • Boils that must be lanced, or at least scabs that itch to be picked.
    — John Herrman, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2018
  • The rumor was a man had died, he’d been caught beneath the rubble when lightning lanced the steeple.
    — New York Times, 5 Mar. 2020
  • Sunbeams had lanced the darkness, and the flying foxes were returning to the tree to roost.
    — Chiara Goia, Smithsonian, 29 Apr. 2017
  • One of the things the theater should be doing today, and rarely does, is lancing the boil of our own self-deception.
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2018
  • My ex-partner used to poke me in the belly to create a metaphorical release, like lancing a boil.
    — Maureen Stanton, Longreads, 17 Jan. 2020
  • Oruç fled, only to be found hiding in a goat pen, where a Spanish soldier first lanced him and then beheaded him.
    — National Geographic, 8 Oct. 2019
  • His goal of lancing the boil of the Catalan separatist movement through these elections has backfired.
    — Tim Lister, CNN, 22 Dec. 2017
  • Use the lancing device (with a new lancet each time) to obtain a drop of blood from the side of your fingertip.
    — Karen Berger, Verywell Health, 30 June 2026
  • Less than 30 seconds later came the shriek of the two missiles that lanced through Turmus’ car.
    — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026
  • Powered from within, grass seedlings lance out roots and stems, beating any competition.
    — Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Asking a question that lanced through his core.
    — Stephen Humphries, Christian Science Monitor, 10 Oct. 2025
  • If unresolved in two more weeks, lancing the lesion, doing a punch biopsy, or removing it might end up needing to be done.
    — Dr. John De Jong, Boston Herald, 25 May 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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