English Explanatory Dictionary

spear

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  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. A soldier armed with such a weapon; a spearman.
  3. A lance with barbed prongs, used by fishermen to retrieve fish.
  4. An illegal maneuver using the end of a hockey stick to strike into another hockey player.
  5. In professional wrestling, a running tackle in which the wrestler's shoulder is driven into the opponent's midsection.
  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.
verb
  1. To pierce with a spear.
  2. 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.
  3. To tackle an opponent by ramming into them with one's helmet.
  4. To shoot into a long stem, as some plants do.
  5. To ignore as a social snub.
adj
  1. Male.
  2. Pertaining to male family members.
noun
  1. The sprout of a plant, stalk
  2. A church spire.
name
  1. An English surname transferred from the nickname or originating as an occupation.

Pronunciation

/spɪə̯(ɹ)/ /spɪɹ/ en-us-spear.ogg

Word forms

spear spears spearing speared

Etymology

From Middle English spere, sperre, spear, from Old English spere, from Proto-West Germanic *speru, from Proto-Germanic *speru, from Proto-Indo-European *sperH-. Cognates See also West Frisian spear, Dutch speer, German Speer, Old Norse spjǫr, *sparrô, Middle Dutch sparre (“rafter”), Old Norse sparri (“spar, rafter”), sperra (“rafter, beam”); also Latin sparus (“short spear”), Albanian ferrë (“thorn, thornbush”).

Synonyms

blank cut

Antonyms

distaff

Related words

assegai assagai assagaie assagay assegay azagaia hassagay hassaguay zagaie zagaye atlatl bayonet harpoon javelin joust lance pike spit used to grill food on fire woomera Shakespeare Speare Speares Spearman Spears Speer Spier

Derived words

bear spear boar-spear eelspear fire spear fishspear Ithuriel's spear king's spear ox tongue spear polespear riding spear spearable spear biscuits spearbush spear-carrier spear carrier spearcast spearcaster spear catcher spear chucker spearchucker spear-chucker spear closet spearer spearfish spearfisher spearfisherman spearfisherwoman spearfishing spear foot spear grass speargrass speargun spear gun spearhead spearless spearlet spearlike spear lily spearmaker spearmaking Spearman spearo spear-penny spear penny spearphisher spear phishing spearphishing spearplay spearpoint spearproof spear-rib spearshaft spearsman spearsmith spear tackle spear thistle spearthrower speartip spearwoman spearwood
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