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

The birds also need plenty of food — in their case, fish, most commonly one called a sand lance. —Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 23 June 2025

The Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest-warming ocean areas in the world, which has imperiled the sand lance population that sturgeon and other species feed on, according to Rebecca Quiñones, the conservation science program manager for MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program. —Benjamin Cassidy, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 May 2025

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

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

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