| 释义 |
▪ I. † launce1 Obs. rare—1.
[ad. L. lance-m (lanx), It. lance.]
A scale, balance.
1590Spenser F.Q. iii. vii. 4 Need teacheth her..That fortune all in equall launce doth sway.
▪ II. launce2 Zool.|lɑːns, læns|
Also 7 lawnce, lance.
[? identical with lance n.1; the name may allude to the shape of the fish; cf. lancelet, and G. lanzenfisch, a kind of chætodon.]
A fish of the genus Ammodytes; the sand-eel; = lant n.2 Also called sand-la(u)nce. sable launce: the capelin.
1623Whitbourne Newfoundland 89 A sufficient quantity of Herrings, Mackerel, Capeling, and Lawnce, to bait their hooks withal. Ibid. 114 Mackarell, Herrings, Lance, Caplin, Dogfish. 1691Ray Creation (1701) 156 We found the stomach of one we dissected full of Sand-eels or Launces, which for the most part lie deep in the sand. 1769Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 123 The launce is found on most of our sandy shores during some of the summer months. 1848C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 26 The launce or sand-eel is a small cylindrical fish from six to twelve inches long. 1883L. Z. Joncas Fish. Canada 13 (Fish. Exhib. Publ.) The cod-fish resorts..to the coast..in pursuit of the caplin or sable launce, on which it feeds. |