Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Spear?

\Spear\, n. [OE. spere, AS. spere; akin to D. & G. speer, OS. & OHS. sper, Icel. spj["o]r, pl., Dan. sp[ae]r, L. sparus.] 1. A long, pointed weapon, used in war and hunting, by thrusting or throwing; a weapon with a long shaft and a sharp head or blade; a lance. Note: [See Illust. of {Spearhead}.] ``A sharp ground spear.'' --Chaucer. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. --Micah iv. 3. 2. Fig.: A spearman. --Sir W. Scott. 3. A sharp-pointed instrument with barbs, used for stabbing fish and other animals. 4. A shoot, as of grass; a spire. 5. The feather of a horse. See {Feather}, n., 4. 6. The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod. {Spear foot}, the off hind foot of a horse. {Spear grass}. (Bot.) (a) The common reed. See {Reed}, n., 1. (b) meadow grass. See under {Meadow}. {Spear hand}, the hand in which a horseman holds a spear; the right hand. --Crabb. {Spear side}, the male line of a family. --Lowell. {Spear thistle} (Bot.), the common thistle ({Cnicus lanceolatus}).
\Spear\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Speared}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Spearing}.] To pierce with a spear; to kill with a spear; as, to spear a fish.
\Spear\, v. i. To shoot into a long stem, as some plants. See {Spire}. --Mortimer.