Definition of "spear"

spear¹

/spɪə̯(ɹ)/

noun
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.
  Quotations
  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
  1815, Walter Scott, “(please specify the page)”, in The Lord of the Isles, a Poem, Edinburgh: […] [F]or Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; by James Ballantyne and Co., […]
  Two of the four spears came directly from Lady Margaret's staff. One was her great-nephew Maurice St John […].
  2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 187
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.
verb
third-person singular simple present spears, present participle spearing, simple past and past participle speared
1. (transitive) To pierce with a spear.
  Quotations
  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.
  2012, Robin Reid, Savannas of Our Birth
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.
  Quotations
  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.
  2003, Stan Fischler, Shirley Fischler, Who's who in Hockey
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.
  Quotations
  you may prepare them for spearing by laying the Keys in Earth or Sand
  1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], published 1708
5. (transitive, obsolete, social, esp. Regency England) To ignore as a social snub.
adjective
not comparable
1. Male.
  Quotations
  When I was young, I was so desperate I'd go looking on the spear side.
  2018, A Very English Scandal (TV series), episode 1
2. Pertaining to male family members.

spear²

/spɪə̯(ɹ)/

noun
plural spears
1. (botany) The sprout of a plant, stalk
2. (obsolete) A church spire.

Definition of "spear"

spear1

noun

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verb

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adjective

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spear2

noun

spear¹

spear²