🇬🇧 Lance meaning: English Vocabulary Flash Card

To lance something means to carefully cut open a swollen, infected bump on the skin with a sharp, clean tool so the yucky, pus-like stuff trapped inside can come out. This is usually done by a doctor or nurse to help the bump stop hurting and heal faster. It has to be done gently and safely so the person gets better and doesn’t get a worse infection.

The nurse lanced my toe, and my little brother screamed louder than I did—and he was in the waiting room.

My brother bragged his pimple was bigger than mine, but the doctor lanced them both and declared a very gross tie.

The bump on Dad’s neck looked like it needed its own name, but the doctor lanced it before we could vote.

When the doctor lanced the boil on my arm, I realized my body had been running a secret pus factory without my permission.

The bump on my knee looked so huge that when the doctor lanced it, I expected confetti instead of pus.

The small clinic was quiet. A tired nurse prepared to lance the swollen bump on his thumb, ready to lance the skin and to lance only the very top. He gripped the table as she rose to lance it. She would lance. Warm yellow pus slipped out. He breathed, let her lance again, and sighed with sudden, wet relief.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

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