spear
    n 1: a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon [syn: spear,
         lance, shaft]
    2: an implement with a shaft and barbed point used for catching
       fish [syn: spear, gig, fizgig, fishgig, lance]
    v 1: pierce with a spear; "spear fish"
    2: thrust up like a spear; "The branch speared up into the air"
       [syn: spear, spear up]

Spear \Spear\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Speared; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Spearing.]
   To pierce with a spear; to kill with a spear; as, to spear a
   fish.
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Spear \Spear\, v. i.
   To shoot into a long stem, as some plants. See Spire.
   --Mortimer.
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Spear \Spear\, n. [OE. spere, AS. spere; akin to D. & G. speer,
   OS. & OHS. sper, Icel. spj["o]r, pl., Dan. spaer, 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.
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               They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and
               their spears into pruning hooks.   --Micah iv. 3.
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   2. Fig.: A spearman. --Sir W. Scott.
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   3. A sharp-pointed instrument with barbs, used for stabbing
      fish and other animals.
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   4. A shoot, as of grass; a spire.
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   5. The feather of a horse. See Feather, n., 4.
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   6. The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is
      attached; a pump rod.
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   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).
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