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Webster 1913 Edition

Cudgel

Cudg′el

(k?j′?l)
,
Noun.
[OE.
kuggel
; cf. G.
keule
club (with a round end),
kugel
ball, or perh. W.
cogyl
cudgel, or D.
cudse
,
kuds
, cudgel.]
A staff used in cudgel play, shorter than the quarterstaff, and wielded with one hand; hence, any heavy stick used as a weapon.
He getteth him a grievous crabtree
cudgel
and . . . falls to rating of them as if they were dogs.
Bunyan.
Cudgel play
,
a fight or sportive contest with cudgels.
–
To cross the cudgels
,
to forbear or give up the contest; – a phrase borrowed from the practice of cudgel players, who lay one cudgel over another when the contest is ended.
–
To take up cudgels for
,
to engage in a contest in behalf of (some one or something).

Cudg′el

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Cudgeled
or
Cudgelled
(-[GREEK]ld)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Cudgeling
or
cudgelling
.]
To beat with a cudgel.
An he here, I would
cudgel
him like a dog.
Shakespeare
To cudgel one’s brains
,
to exercise one's wits.

Webster 1828 Edition

Cudgel

CUDGEL

,
Noun.
A short thick stick of wood, such as may be used by the hand in beating. It differs strictly from a club, which is larger at one end than the other. It is shorter than a pole, and thicker than a rod.
To cross the cudgels, to forbear the contest; a phrase borrowed from the practice of cudgel-players, who lay one cudgel over another.

CUDGEL

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To beat with a cudgel, or thick stick.
2.
To beat in general.

Definition 2024

cudgel

cudgel

English

Noun

cudgel ‎(plural cudgels)

  1. A short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon.
    The guard hefted his cudgel menacingly and looked at the inmates. The threat to swing glinted in his eye.
    • 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Chapter V
      Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.
    • Bunyan
      He getteth him a grievous crabtree cudgel and […] falls to rating of them as if they were dogs.
  2. (metaphoric) Anything that can be used as a threat to force one's will on another.
    • 2015 April 15, Jonathan Martin, “For a Clinton, It’s Not Hard to Be Humble in an Effort to Regain Power”, in The New York Times:
      Mrs. Clinton’s Senate tenure, however, also demonstrated the risks of overcompensation: Not wanting to give Republicans fodder to portray her as soft on defense, she authorized President Bush to use force in Iraq and handed Mr. Obama a political cudgel to use against her.

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

cudgel ‎(third-person singular simple present cudgels, present participle (US) cudgeling or (UK) cudgelling, simple past and past participle (US) cudgeled or (UK) cudgelled)

  1. To strike with a cudgel.
    The officer was violently cudgeled down in the midst of the rioters.
    • Shakespeare
      I would cudgel him like a dog if he would say so.
  2. To exercise (one's wits or brains).

See also

Club (weapon) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English kuggel, from Old English cycgel ‎(“a large stick, cudgel”), from Proto-Germanic *kuggilaz ‎(“knobbed instrument”), derivative of Proto-Germanic *kuggǭ ‎(“cog, swelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewgʰ- ‎(“swelling, bow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew-, *gū- ‎(“to bow, bend, arch, curve”). Cognate with Middle Dutch coghele ‎(“stick with a rounded end”). Related to cog.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkʌdʒəl/
  • Rhymes: -ʌdʒəl

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