Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A cavalryman armed with a lance.
  • noun A member of a regiment originally armed with lances.
  • noun A kind of quadrille.
  • noun The music for this dance.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who carries a lance; a soldier armed with a lance.
  • noun One who lances.
  • noun A lancet.
  • noun plural A popular set of quadrilles, first used in England about 1820. Also lanciers.
  • noun Music for such a set of dances.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who lances; one who carries a lance; especially, a member of a mounted body of men armed with lances, attached to the cavalry service of some nations.
  • noun obsolete A lancet.
  • noun (Dancing) A set of quadrilles of a certain arrangement.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun military A cavalry soldier armed with a lance weapon

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (formerly) a cavalryman armed with a lance

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French lancier, from Old French, maker of lances, from lance, lance; see lance.]

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Examples

  • But no matter the rumors, he was known as a lancer of surpassing skill and surpassing power, and no Knight wanted to draw his lot when the tournament began.

    Virginity Sydney Kilgore 2010

  • Smoldering beneath the pleasant exterior and the uniform of a lancer is a magus - or a lancer with the power of a second-level adept.

    The Magi'i Of Cyador Modesitt, L. E. 2000

  • At Hulagur's call the lancer rode up to the waiting Apache, stretched out a booted foot in the heavy stirrup, and held down a hand to bring

    The Defiant Agents Andre Norton 1958

  • In any Polish dictionary they would have found the word defined as meaning "lancer," and the Uhlans in the Austrian army can hardly be described as modern

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 31, May, 1860 Various

  • I'm only commenting because word verification came up as, no shit, 'lancer'.

    Yeah, they know where you live. CC 2009

  • We enjoyed the spirit and verve of Andrew Cuomo's speech: the young lancer laying out the problem and part of his plan if there be a plan; the Albany veterans, expressing verbal support and encouragement, the infighting necessarily left for another day and a place outside public view.

    Henry J. Stern: The Governor's Speech Henry J. Stern 2011

  • We enjoyed the spirit and verve of Andrew Cuomo's speech: the young lancer laying out the problem and part of his plan if there be a plan; the Albany veterans, expressing verbal support and encouragement, the infighting necessarily left for another day and a place outside public view.

    Henry J. Stern: The Governor's Speech Henry J. Stern 2011

  • The differences between a member of the BSO and a talented free-lancer are very important.

    In the ballpark Matthew Guerrieri 2009

  • Simply drawn rape or bloody lancer slitting action with fountains of blood, i dont see a difference.

    Was RapeLay 'Asking For It'? SVGL 2009

  • I taught college courses in Economics and Political Science (I've a Ph. D) and I've written as a free-lancer for various publications.

    "Reform" in New York State 2010

Comments

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  • The Republic P-43. More on Wikipedia.

    December 30, 2008