spear

v. i. To shoot into a long stem, as some plants. See Spire. Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. spere, AS. spere; akin to D. & G. speer, OS. & OHS. sper, Icel. spjör, 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. [ See Illust. of Spearhead. ] “A sharp ground spear.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Micah iv. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: A spearman. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A sharp-pointed instrument with barbs, used for stabbing fish and other animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A shoot, as of grass; a spire. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The feather of a horse. See Feather, n., 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod. [ 1913 Webster ]

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). [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who uses a spear; as, a spearer of fish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) (a) A large and powerful fish (Tetrapturus albidus) related to the swordfish, but having scales and ventral fins. It is found on the American coast and the Mediterranean. (b) The carp sucker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The pointed head, or end, of a spear. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Spearmen One who is armed with a spear. Acts xxiii. 23. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ So named from its spiry, not capitate, inflorescence. Dr. Prior. ] (Bot.) A species of mint (Mentha viridis) growing in moist soil. It vields an aromatic oil. See Mint, and Mentha. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) An Australian tree (Acacia Doratoxylon), and its tough wood, used by the natives for spears. [ 1913 Webster ]