lansquenet

Noun

lansquenet (countable and uncountable, plural lansquenets)

1. (countable, historical) Any of a class of German mercenaries of the 15th and 16th centuries, most of whom were pikemen and foot soldiers.
   • […] arising out of this festival there was established an individual lansquenet tradition, in speech and outward appearance, and the bare, sunburnt necks of the vagabond soldiers, their baggy garments hanging in shreds, and their short swords, could be seen all over the country for long afterwards.1855, Gottfried Keller, translated by A.M. Holt, Green Henry, Calder Publications, published 1960, page 440
   • Ruthless killing, wanton strife / Add up to a lanzknecht’s life.1999, HJC von Grimmelshausen, translated by Mike Mitchell, Simplicissimus, Dedalus, published 2016, page 52
2. (uncountable) A gambling card game in which the dealer is given an initial card and the players another; cards are then turned up until the value (rank) of one of those cards is met.
   • “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
   • One could see part of the dimly lit court where under an enclosed poplar two soldiers on a stone bench were playing lansquenet.1962, Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire

   Synonyms:

   skin the lamb