Lancet
name, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A sharp, pointed, two-edged surgical instrument used in venesection and for opening abscesses etc.
"With a lancet, Håkan drained the slow blue blood from his leg, always fearing to find pus."
- 2 a surgical knife with a pointed double-edged blade; used for punctures and small incisions wordnet
- 3 A small, sterile single-use needle used to draw a drop of blood for testing, as with a glucometer.
- 4 an acutely pointed Gothic arch, like a lance wordnet
- 5 An iron bar used for tapping a melting furnace.
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- 6 A high narrow window, terminating in an acutely pointed arch, common in Gothic architecture.
"He looked away, into the cavernous space emptying of people. Up in the galleries and behind the choir, the wide window lancets were sheets of black."
- 1 To pierce with a lancet.
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"In a study published in the journal The Lancet Oncology, researchers with the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, reported the incidence of childhood cancer was 140 per million per year from 2001–2010 among children up to age 14."
Etymology
From Middle English launcet, from Old French lancete, a diminutive of lance. By surface analysis, lance + -et.
Related phrases
More for "lancet"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.