spear
noun
- pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head
verb
- to pierce, strike, or take with or as if with a spear
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /spɪə̯(ɹ)/ / /spɪɹ/
adj
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”).
- Male.
“a spear counterpart”
“When I was young, I was so desperate I'd go looking on the spear side.”
- Pertaining to male family members.
“the spear side of the family”
name
Etymology: From Middle English spere (“spear”), from Old English spere (“spear”), variously intending a spearman, a spearmaker, or a person tall and thin in a way reminiscent of a spear.
- An English surname transferred from the nickname or originating as an occupation.
noun
Etymology: Alteration of spire, from Middle English spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr (“stalk of a plant, shoot, blade”). More at spire.
- The sprout of a plant, stalk
- A church spire.
verb
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”).
- To pierce with a spear.
“By the 1970s, herders were spearing rhinos and poisoning lions to protest the loss of their land to conservation, then represented by the independent Kenyan government.”
- 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.
“Former teammate Derek Sanderson recalls that Maki hit Ted from behind as Green was clearing the puck from the Boston zone. Green turned to knock Maki down, but Maki speared him as he rose from the ice.”
- To tackle an opponent by ramming into them with one's helmet.
- To shoot into a long stem, as some plants do.
“you may prepare them for spearing by laying the Keys in Earth or Sand”
- To ignore as a social snub.
“The Monthly Magazine, Or, British Register for 1798 included an explanation by a reader of how the cut was carried out in his college days in a lengthy letter to the editor, signed by the pseudonym "Ansonius." In his rambling letter, Ansonius noted that when he was at college, " … if a man passed an old acquaintance wittingly, without recognizing him, he was said— ‘To cut him.’" Ansonius then went on to explain the performance of the cut and noted that for a time the term "to spear" was used instead of to cut. However, that term did not remain long in use, and this act was generally known as "the cut" ever after.”