spearing

Verb

spear (third-person singular simple present spears, present participle spearing, simple past and past participle speared)

1. (transitive) To pierce with a spear.
   • 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.2012, Robin Reid, Savannas of Our Birth
2. (broadly, transitive) To penetrate or strike with, or as if with, any long narrow object; to make a thrusting motion that catches an object on the tip of a long device.
   • 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.2003, Stan Fischler, Shirley Fischler, Who's who in Hockey
3. (gridiron football) To tackle an opponent by ramming into them with one's helmet.
4. (intransitive) To shoot into a long stem, as some plants do.
   • you may prepare them for spearing by laying the Keys in Earth or Sand1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC
5. (especially, obsolete, transitive) To ignore as a social snub.
   • The Monthly Magazine, Or, British Register for 1798 included an explanation by a reader of how the cut was carried out in his college days in a lengthy letter to the editor, signed by the pseudonym "Ansonius." In his rambling letter, Ansonius noted that when he was at college, " … if a man passed...27 September 2013, Kane, Kathryn, The Regency Redingote Blog The Cut: The Ultimate & Final Social Weapon

   Synonyms:

   blank, cut

See all 19 meanings of spear