cudgel

[kuhj-uhl]

noun

1. a short, thick stick used as a weapon; club.

verb (used with object)

cudgeled, cudgeling , cudgelled, cudgelling .

1. to strike with a cudgel; beat.

cudgel

/ ˈkʌdʒəl /

noun

1. a short stout stick used as a weapon

2. to join in a dispute, esp to defend oneself or another

verb

1. (tr) to strike with a cudgel or similar weapon

2. to think hard about a problem

Other Word Forms

• cudgeller noun
• cudgeler noun
• uncudgeled adjective
• uncudgelled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cudgel¹

before 900; Middle English cuggel, Old English cycgel; akin to German Kugel ball

Word History and Origins

Origin of cudgel¹

Old English cycgel; related to Middle Dutch koghele stick with knob

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. take up the cudgels, to come to the defense or aid of someone or something.

2. cudgel one's brains, to try to comprehend or remember.

   I cudgeled my brains to recall her name.

Example Sentences

“Because people will say, ‘Well, this is just basically a cudgel, there’s not an issue at all, and it’s just being exploited.’”

From Los Angeles Times

But in other circumstances, the law became a powerful cudgel wielded to influence concerns that at best had a tangential relationship to the environment.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump, meanwhile, is opposing Maine on conservative ideological grounds using federal funding as the cudgel to prevail.

From Los Angeles Times

None of which made it a less effective cudgel.

From Los Angeles Times

These are the worst Americans of all, motivated not by love of country but rather fear of newcomers, whose ways they seek to extinguish under the cloak of patriotism and the cudgel of the law.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• nightstick www.thesaurus.com
• truncheon