lance

[Fr., from Lat. lance a; cogn. with Gr. longche =alance.] I. Ordinary Language : 1. A weapon consisting of a long shaft with a sharp point, much used, particularly before the invention of firearms. It is a thrusting weapon used on foot, but chiefly on horseback. In the Middle Ages the lance was held in the highest repute by knights and men-at-arms who formed the main strength of European armies; it was gradually superseded by the invention of gunpowder. The lance used by knights of the Middle Ages was of a peculiar form. Near the lower end the lance was very thick, with a deep opening in which the arm was placed when the lance was put in rest preparatory to a charge. Immediately in front of the opening the shaft was, in tilting-lances, from a foot to a foot and a half in diameter, and sloped off toward the upper end, which was from a half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The lances now in use among the European cavalry have a shaft of ash or beech-wood from 8 to 16 feet long, with a steel point 8 or 10 inches long, and, to prevent this from being cut off by a saber stroke, the shaft is guarded by a strip of iron on each side from one and a half to two feet long. The other end has an iron cap to prevent splitting. The point has a small pennon, intended to frighten the enemy's horses. When not in use, the lance is carried in a leathern shoe by the right stirrup, dependent by a les thern thong on the right arm. In use, it is carried under the right arm. "Set lance in rest, strike spur." Tennyson: Elaine , 455. Free lance : Formerly a mercenary soldier, owing allegiance to no one permanently; hence a person who is free to a ail any party or principle, and is not pledged to any one more than temporarily. Stink - fire lance: A fuse which, when ignited, emits a suffocating odor, and is used in military mining operations to dislodge counter-miners. 2. A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer. II. Technically: 1. Carp .: A pointed blade, usually employed to sover the grain on each side of the intended path of a chipping-bit or router. It is used in crozes, planes, and gauges of certain kinds. 2. Greek Ritual: A small knife used in the early from the holy loaf. The action commemorates the part of the present Greek liturgy to divide the Host piercing of our Lord's side. The priest makes four cuts in the loaf, and stabs it more than once, accompanying each action with appropriate texts of Scripture. 3. Pyrotech.: Lances are small paper cases, filled with composition, and attached to light frames of wood, to mark the outlines of the figures in pyгоtechnical devices. Various chemicals give the desired color to the flame.