different between spear vs jab

English

Etymology

From Middle English spere, sperre, spear, from Old English spere, from Proto-Germanic *speru (compare West Frisian spear, Dutch speer, German Speer, Old Norse spj?r), related to *sparrô (compare Middle Dutch sparre (“rafter”), Old Norse sparri (“spar, rafter”), sperra (“rafter, beam”)), from Proto-Indo-European *sperH- (compare Latin sparus (“short spear”), Albanian ferrë (“thorn, thornbush”)). See park.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sp???(?)/
• (Canada, US) IPA^(key): /sp??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Noun

spear (plural spears)

1. A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion.
2. (now chiefly historical) A soldier armed with such a weapon; a spearman.
   • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 187:

     Two of the four spears came directly from Lady Margaret's staff. One was her great-nephew Maurice St John […].

3. A lance with barbed prongs, used by fishermen to retrieve fish.
4. (ice hockey) An illegal maneuver using the end of a hockey stick to strike into another hockey player.
5. (wrestling) In professional wrestling, a running tackle in which the wrestler's shoulder is driven into the opponent's midsection.
6. A shoot, as of grass; a spire.
7. The feather of a horse.
8. The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod.
9. A long, thin strip from a vegetable.

   asparagus and broccoli spears

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• assegai, assagai, assagaie, assagay, assegay, azagaia, hassagay, hassaguay, zagaie, zagaye
• atlatl
• bayonet
• harpoon
• javelin
• joust
• lance
• pike
• spit, used to grill food on fire
• woomera

Verb

spear (third-person singular simple present spears, present participle spearing, simple past and past participle speared)

1. (transitive) To pierce with a spear.
2. (transitive, by extension) 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.
   • 2003, Stan Fischler, Shirley Fischler, Who's who in Hockey

     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.

3. (gridiron football) To tackle an opponent by ramming into them with one's helmet.
4. (intransitive) To shoot into a long stem, as some plants do.

Translations

Adjective

spear (not comparable)

1. Male.

   a spear counterpart

   • 2018, A Very English Scandal (TV series) (episode 1)

     When I was young, I was so desperate I'd go looking on the spear side.

2. Pertaining to male family members.

   the spear side of the family

Antonyms

• distaff

Anagrams

• Asper, Earps, Pears, Peras, RESPA, Rapes, Spera, apers, apres, après, aprés, as per, asper, pares, parse, pears, prase, presa, præs., rapes, reaps, sarpe, spare

Middle English

Noun

spear

1. Alternative form of spere (“spear”)

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian spere, spiri, from Proto-Germanic *speru.

Noun

spear c (plural spearen, diminutive spearke)

1. spear

Further reading

• “spear”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

English

Etymology

Originally a Scottish (unclear if Scots or Scottish English) form of English job (“peck, poke, thrust”), from Middle English jobben.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?æb/
• Rhymes: -æb

Noun

jab (plural jabs)

1. A quick stab or blow; a poking or thrusting motion.
   • 1952, Bernard Malamud, The Natural, Chapter 9,

     He tore in for the ball, make a running jab for it and held it.

2. (boxing) A short straight punch.
3. (Britain) A medical hypodermic injection (vaccination or inoculation)

   Our dog was exposed to rabies, so the whole family went to a clinic to get our jabs.

4. (Britain, Australia) A vaccination, whether or not delivered via conventional injection.
5. (US, figuratively) A mild verbal insult.

Derived terms

• jabby

Translations

Verb

jab (third-person singular simple present jabs, present participle jabbing, simple past and past participle jabbed)

1. To poke or thrust abruptly, or to make such a motion.
2. To deliver a quick punch.
3. (slang, Britain) To give someone an injection

Translations

References

Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “jab”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Irish

Etymology

Borrowed from English job.

Noun

jab m (genitive singular jab, nominative plural jabanna)

1. job, piece of work
2. post, employment

Declension

Derived terms

• jabaire m (“(cattle-)jobber”)

References

• "jab" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English jab.

Noun

jab m (invariable)

1. jab (boxing punch)

Spanish

Noun

jab m (plural jabs)

1. (boxing) jab