different between lance vs gaff

English

Etymology

From Middle English launce, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: läns, IPA^(key): /l??ns/
• (US) enPR: l?ns, IPA^(key): /læns/
• Rhymes: -??ns, -æns

Noun

lance (plural lances)

1. A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.
   • 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III, Act II, Scene III, line 15.

     Thy brother’s blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, Broach’d with the steely point of Clifford’s lance...

   • 1909, Charles Henry Ashdown, European Arms & Armor, page 65.

     The head of the lance was commonly of the leaf form, and sometimes approached that of the lozenge; it was very seldom barbed, although this variety, together with the others, appears upon the Bayeux Tapestry.

2. A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.
   • 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part I, Act III, Scene II, line 49.

     What will you do, good greybeard? Break a lance, And run a-tilt at Death within a chair?

3. (fishing) A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.
4. (military) A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.
5. (military) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.
6. (founding) A small iron rod which suspends the core of the mold in casting a shell.
7. (pyrotechnics) One of the small paper cases filled with combustible composition, which mark the outlines of a figure.
8. (medicine) A lancet.

Derived terms

Related terms

• lancet

Translations

Verb

lance (third-person singular simple present lances, present participle lancing, simple past and past participle lanced)

1. To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.

   Seized the due victim, and with fury lanced Her back. Dryden.

2. To open with a lancet; to pierce

3. To throw in the manner of a lance; to lanch.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:lance.

Translations

See also

• javelin
• pike
• spear

Anagrams

• Calne, Lenca, ancle, clane, clean

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l??s/
• Homophones: lancent, lances

Etymology 1

From Old French lance, from Latin lancea.

Noun

lance f (plural lances)

1. a spear, lance
2. (military) a soldier armed with a lance; a lancer
3. a hose

Derived terms

• fer de lance
• lancette
• lancier

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

lance

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of lancer
2. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of lancer
3. second-person singular imperative of lancer

Derived terms

• lance-roquette
• relance (form of verb relancer)

Related terms

Further reading

• “lance” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin lancea.

Noun

lance f (plural lancis)

1. lance, spear

Related terms

• slançâ

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lan.t??e/

Noun

lance f pl

1. plural of lancia

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?lan.ke/, [???ä?k?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?lan.t??e/, [?l?n??t???]

Noun

lance

1. ablative singular of lanx

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

lance

1. Alternative form of launce

Etymology 2

Verb

lance

1. Alternative form of launcen

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French lance.

Noun

lance f (plural lances)

1. lance (weapon)
2. lancer; lance

Descendants

• French: lance

Old French

Etymology

From Latin lancea.

Noun

lance f (oblique plural lances, nominative singular lance, nominative plural lances)

1. lance (weapon)

Descendants

• Middle French: lance
  • French: lance
• ? Middle English: launce
  • English: lance
• ? Middle High German: lanze
  • German: Lanze

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Back-formation from lançar.

Noun

lance m (plural lances)

1. throw (act of throwing something)

   Synonyms: arremesso, jogada, lançamento

2. bid (offer at an auction)

   Synonym: lanço

3. (sports) a series of actions carried out during a game

   Synonym: jogada

4. (informal) thing (only used for non-physical things)
5. flight (series of stairs between landings)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

lance

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of lançar

   É importante que eu lance isso.

   It’s important that I throw this.

2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of lançar

   É importante que ele lance isso.

   It’s important that he throws this.

3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of lançar

   Você aí, lance isso sozinho.

   You there, throw this by yourself.

4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of lançar

   Você aí, não lance isso sozinho.

   You there, don’t throw this by yourself.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian lancia (18th century).

Noun

lance f (plural l?nci)

1. spear, lance

   Synonym: suli??

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /?lan?e/, [?lãn?.?e]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /?lanse/, [?lãn.se]

Etymology 1

From the verb lanzar.

Noun

lance m (plural lances)

1. launch (act of launching)

   Synonym: lanzamiento

2. throw
3. cast (fishing)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

lance

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of lanzar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of lanzar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of lanzar.

Further reading

• “lance” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?æf/
• Rhymes: -æf

Etymology 1

From Middle English gaffe, from Old French gaffe, from Old Occitan gaf (“hook”), derivative of gafar (“to seize”), from Gothic ????????????????- (gaff-) derived from ???????????????????? (giban, “to give”). Doublet of gaffe.

Noun

gaff (countable and uncountable, plural gaffs)

1. A tool consisting of a large metal hook with a handle or pole, especially the one used to pull large fish aboard a boat.

   Synonym: hakapik

   • 1997, Mark Kurlansky, Cod: a Biography of the Fish That Changed the World:

     When Leonard finally hauls up a cod of seventy-five centimeters, probably seven years old, a typical catch ten years ago, they all joke, "Oh my God, get the gaff!"

2. A minor error or faux pas, a gaffe.

3. A trick or con.

4. (nautical) The upper spar used to control a gaff-rigged sail.
5. A garment worn to hide the genitals.
6. (informal, uncountable) Clipping of gaffer tape.

Translations

Verb

gaff (third-person singular simple present gaffs, present participle gaffing, simple past and past participle gaffed)

1. To use a gaff, especially to land a fish.
2. To cheat or hoax.
3. (transitive) To doctor or modify for deceptive purposes.
   • 1993, Betty Lou Wolfe, ?Marian Jean Gray, The Way We Were: Reflections from the 1930's (page 23)

     When the operator began losing, he gaffed the wheel and then the patron had no chance to win. With his secret device an experienced grifter could stop the wheel at will on any number.

   • 1977, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (volume 46, issue 9, page 8)

     However, this apathy will quickly disappear if it is learned the friendly game involves marked (gaffed) cards.

   • 1989, Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends (page 96)

     You will be using gaffed cards: a double faced card.

4. (slang) To gamble.
5. (transitive, informal) To affix gaffer tape to, or cover with gaffer tape.

Translations

Derived terms

• gaffer

Etymology 2

Perhaps from Old English gafspr?c (“buffoonery, scurrility; blasphemous or ribald speech”), from Old English gaf (“base, vile, lewd”) + Old English spr?c (“language, speech, talk”)

Noun

gaff

1. Rough or harsh treatment; criticism.
2. (dated) An outcry; nonsense.

Derived terms

• blow the gaff

Etymology 3

Unknown. Possibly from Etymology 1, via a sense of “a place that will be robbed” in criminal argot; possibly from Etymology 2, via a sense of "cheap theatre"; possibly from Romani gav (“village”) (whence German Kaff (“village”)).

Alternative forms

• gaf

Noun

gaff (plural gaffs)

1. (Britain, especially Manchester and Cockney, Ireland, slang, Glaswegian) A place of residence.

   We're going round to Mike's gaff later to watch the footie.

Anagrams

• aff'g