Category:Spear

Spear, n. Etym: [oe. spere, as. spere; akin to d. & g. speer, os. & Ohs. sper, icel. spjör, pl., Dan. spær, 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.

Note: [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, n., 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, n., 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 Spear, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Speared; p. pr. & vb. n. Spearing.]

Defn: to pierce with a spear; to kill with a spear; as, to spear a Fish.

Spear Spear, v. i.

Defn: to shoot into a long stem, as some plants. See spire. Mortimer.