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cudgel
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1cud·gel

noun \ˈkə-jəl\

Definition of CUDGEL

: a short heavy club
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Examples of CUDGEL

  1. <a farmer armed with a cudgel drove us off his land>

Origin of CUDGEL

Middle English kuggel, from Old English cycgel; perhaps akin to Middle High German kugele ball
First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to CUDGEL

Synonyms
bastinado (or bastinade), bat, baton, billy, billy club, bludgeon, cane, club, nightstick, rod, rung [Scottish], sap, shillelagh (also shillalah), staff, truncheon, waddy [Australian]

Other Weapons and Explosives Terms

automatic, carbine, muzzle, rapier

2cudgel

transitive verb
cudgeled or cudgelledcudgel·ing or cudgel·ling \ˈkəj-liŋ, ˈkə-jə-\

Definition of CUDGEL

: to beat with or as if with a cudgel
— cudgel one's brains
: to think hard (as for a solution to a problem)

First Known Use of CUDGEL

1596

Other Weapons and Explosives Terms

automatic, carbine, cudgel, muzzle, rapier

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