What does "spear" mean?
A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion.
Spear
/spɪɹ/ adj, name, noun, verb
adj, name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion.
- Grammar: spear is listed as adj, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: lance, anthrophore, assegai, auger.
- Useful contrasts: distaff, follow, harpoon.
- Usage evidence: He hurled a spear at his enemy.
How to use "spear"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "spear" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "spear" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "spear" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "spear" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "spear" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "lance" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "spear", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
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.
"It's not like you killed someone It's not like you drove a spiteful spear into his side Talk to Jesus Christ as if he knows the reasons why He did it all for you"
- 2 The sprout of a plant, stalk
- 3 a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon wordnet
- 4 A soldier armed with such a weapon; a spearman. historical
"Now toil'd the Bruce, the battle done , To use his conquest boldly won; And gave command for horse and spear To press the Southron's scatter'd rear"
- 5 A church spire. obsolete
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 an implement with a shaft and barbed point used for catching fish wordnet
- 7 A lance with barbed prongs, used by fishermen to retrieve fish.
- 8 An illegal maneuver using the end of a hockey stick to strike into another hockey player.
- 9 In professional wrestling, a running tackle in which the wrestler's shoulder is driven into the opponent's midsection.
- 10 A shoot, as of grass; a spire.
- 11 The feather of a horse.
- 12 The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod.
- 13 A long, thin strip from a vegetable.
"asparagus and broccoli spears"
Verb
- 1 To pierce with a spear. transitive
"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."
- 2 pierce with a spear wordnet
- 3 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. broadly, transitive
"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."
- 4 thrust up like a spear wordnet
- 5 To tackle an opponent by ramming into them with one's helmet.
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To shoot into a long stem, as some plants do. intransitive
"you may prepare them for spearing by laying the Keys in Earth or Sand"
- 7 To ignore as a social snub. especially, obsolete, transitive
"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."
Adjective
- 1 Male. not-comparable
"a spear counterpart"
- 2 Pertaining to male family members. not-comparable
"the spear side of the family"
Proper Noun
- 1 An English surname.
Example
"He hurled a spear at his enemy."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "spear"?
Common synonyms include: lance, anthrophore, assegai, auger, axis, bag.
How do you use "spear" in a sentence?
He hurled a spear at his enemy.
How do you pronounce "spear"?
Pronounced /spɪɹ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”).
Etymology 2
Alteration of spire, from Middle English spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr (“stalk of a plant, shoot, blade”). More at spire.
Etymology 3
From Middle English spere (“spear”), a nickname for a tall thin person or for someone who used a spear, or an occupational name for a maker of spears.