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).
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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