Zool. Also 7 lawnce, lance. [? identical with LANCE sb.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 sb.2 Also called sand-la(u)nce. Sable launce: the capelin.
1623. Whitbourne, Newfoundland, 89. A sufficient quantity of Herrings, Mackerel, Capeling, and Lawnce, to bait their hooks withal. Ibid., 114. Mackarell, Herrings, Lance, Caplin, Dogfish.
1691. Ray, 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.
1769. Pennant, Brit. Zool., III. 123. The launce is found on most of our sandy shores during some of the summer months.
1848. C. A. Johns, Week at Lizard, 26. The launce or sand-eel is a small cylindrical fish from six to twelve inches long.
1883. L. Z. Joncas, Fish. Canada, 13 (Fish. Exbib. Publ.). The cod-fish resorts … to the coast … in pursuit of the caplin or sable launce, on which it feeds.
