JOIN v.
To accept, or engage in, as a contest; as, to join encounter, battle, issue. Milton. To join battle, To join issue. See under Battle, Issue.
LANCE n.
ance, in the Middle Ages, and subsequently, a knight or roving soldier, who was free to engage for any state or commander that purchased his services; hence, a person who assails institutions or opinions on his own responsibility without regard to party lines or deference to authority. -- Lance bucket (Cavalry), a soc…