# spear

> English word · Noun · IPA /spɪə̯(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #11,296

## Definitions
1. A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion.
2. A soldier armed with such a weapon; a spearman.
3. A lance with barbed prongs, used by fishermen to retrieve fish.
4. An illegal maneuver using the end of a hockey stick to strike into another hockey player.
5. In professional wrestling, a running tackle in which the wrestler's shoulder is driven into the opponent's midsection.
6. A shoot, as of grass; a spire.
7. The feather of a horse.
8. The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod.
9. A long, thin strip from a vegetable.

## Etymology
From Middle English spere, sperre, spear, from Old English spere, from Proto-West Germanic *speru, from Proto-Germanic *speru, from Proto-Indo-European *sperH-.
Cognates
See also West Frisian spear, Dutch speer, German Speer, Old Norse spjǫr, *sparrô, Middle Dutch sparre (“rafter”), Old Norse sparri (“spar, rafter”), sperra (“rafter, beam”); also Latin sparus (“short spear”), Albanian ferrë (“thorn, thornbush”).

## Easily confused with
- **SPR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-spr)
- **star** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-star)
- **spur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-spur)
- **spec** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-spec)
- **sped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-sped)
- **spew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-spew)
- **super** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-super)
- **spent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-spent)
- **speed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-speed)
- **spend** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-spend)
- **sugar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-sugar)
- **steam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-steam)
- **swear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-swear)
- **steal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-steal)
- **spell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-spell)
- **spray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-spray)
- **sweat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-sweat)
- **steak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-steak)
- **sperm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-sperm)
- **steer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spear-vs-steer)

## Common misspellings (6)
`psear`, `separ`, `spearr`, `spera`, `sppear`, `sspear`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spear