break a lance
"break-a-lance" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“break a lance” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - to take a stand, to contend [with for ‘to the benefit of’] [with in favour of ‘to the benefit of’] [with against ‘in opposition to’]
Corpus desk
Index EN-break-a-lance · break a lance · English
break a lance · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | break a lance |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “break a lance” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
break a lance is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for break a lance, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: After the knightly practice of jousting. The correct English form is break a lance, spelled B-R-E-A-K- -A- -L-A-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1to take a stand, to contend [with for ‘to the benefit of’] [with in favour of ‘to the benefit of’] [with against ‘in opposition to’]
- 2Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see break, a, lance.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how break a lance appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
But over the difficult and important passage 2 Cor 12:1 10 she breaks a lance with me, and a response here may be a testimony to the seriousness with which I treat her comments.
Etymology
After the knightly practice of jousting.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.