spearer


Also found in: Thesaurus, Financial, Idioms, Encyclopedia.

spear 1

 (spîr)
n.
1. A weapon consisting of a long shaft with a sharply pointed end.
2. A shaft with a sharp point and barbs for spearing fish.
3. A soldier armed with a spear.
v. speared, spear·ing, spears
v.tr.
1. To pierce with a spear or other sharp object.
2. To catch with a thrust of the arm: spear a grounder.
3.
a. Football To block (an opponent) by ramming with the helmet, in violation of the rules.
b. Sports To jab (an opponent) with the blade of a hockey stick, in violation of the rules.
v.intr.
To stab at something with a spear or other sharp object.

[Middle English spere, from Old English.]

spear′er n.
spear′like′ adj.

spear 2

 (spîr)
n.
A slender stalk, as of asparagus.
intr.v. speared, spear·ing, spears
To sprout like a spear.

[Alteration of spire.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Mentioned in ?
References in periodicals archive ?
The spearer species of shrimp mantis are older, in evolutionary terms, and have a similar striated internal region in their spears.
Germaine, a Lac du Flambeau tribal spearer, described a terrifying night on Catfish Lake during which she and her brothers were shot at and had the windshield of their car broken.
"In came a small, mean, wizened-faced man of about 60, dressed in a black coat and hat, drab breeches and gaiters, and looking more like a decayed Methodist preacher than a spearer of imperial salmon," he wrote.