n. & v.
n. 1 a thrusting or throwing weapon with a pointed usu. steel tip and a long shaft. 2 a similar barbed instrument used for catching fish etc. 3 archaic a spearman. 4 a pointed stem of asparagus etc.
v.tr. pierce or strike with or as if with a spear (speared an olive). spear gun a gun used to propel a spear in underwater fishing. spear side the male side of a family.
[ OE spere ]