sand lance

noun

: any of several small elongate marine bony fishes (genus Ammodytes of the family Ammodytidae) that associate in large schools and remain buried in sandy beaches at ebb tide

called also sand eel, sand launce

Examples of sand lance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Puffins spend most of their lives at sea, eating small fish, less than six inches long, such as sand lance and herring. —USA TODAY, 25 Feb. 2024

By mid-July of this year, the sand lance had disappeared and the puffins switched to haddock, hake and redfish. —Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Sep. 2023

However, a small eel-like fish called the sand lance has been abundant this year. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 31 Aug. 2023

One fish, though — the sand lance — has remained in abundance this year, allowing puffins to thrive, said Don Lyons, director of conservation science at National Audubon Society’s Seabird Institute in Bremen, Maine. —Patrick Whittle, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Aug. 2023

The warmer ocean has probably caused nutrient-rich fish like sand lance and capelin to decline. —Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Dec. 2022

Of particular concern are king salmon and silver salmon, which feed on sand lance, a type of fish known to absorb algal toxins. —Yereth Rosen, Anchorage Daily News, 23 June 2022

The limited sand lance research that exists cannot fully explain Scherer’s experience. —BostonGlobe.com, 26 Sep. 2019

Another worrisome impact of climate change, according to the report, is that warmer waters in the Sound could see small forage fish like young shad, river herring and sand lances leave for colder waters. —Gregory B. Hladky, courant.com, 5 Dec. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1776, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sand lance

• advance
• askance
• enhance
• expanse
• finance
• freelance
• mischance
• perchance
• romance
• chance
• dance
• glance