spear
/spɪɹ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.70 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion.
noun
An illegal maneuver using the end of a hockey stick to strike into another hockey player.
noun
In professional wrestling, a running tackle in which the wrestler's shoulder is driven into the opponent's midsection.
Example Sentences
- "It's not like you killed someone It's not like you drove a spiteful spear into his side Talk to Jesus Christ as if he knows the reasons why He did it all for you"
- "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"
- "Two of the four spears came directly from Lady Margaret's staff. One was her great-nephew Maurice St John […]."
- "asparagus and broccoli spears"
- "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."
- "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."
Etymology
From Middle English spere, sperre, spear, from Old English spere, from Proto-West Germanic *speru, from Proto-Germanic *speru, from Proto-Indo-European *sperH-. Cognates See also West Frisian spear, Dutch speer, German Speer, Old Norse spjǫr, *sparrô, Middle Dutch sparre (“rafter”), Old Norse sparri (“spar, rafter”), sperra (“rafter, beam”); also Latin sparus (“short spear”), Albanian ferrë (“thorn, thornbush”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /spɪɹ/
- British English: /spɪə̯(ɹ)/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.