cudgel

1 of 2

noun

cud·​gel ˈkə-jəl 

: a short heavy club

The eighteenth-century audience went to the theatre armed with whistles, rattles, … and sometimes even wooden cudgels.

—Ronald Hayman

cudgel

2 of 2

verb

cudgeled or cudgelled; cudgeling or cudgelling ˈkəj-liŋ 

ˈkə-jə-

transitive verb

: to beat with or as if with a cudgel

Phrases

cudgel one's brains

: to think hard (as for a solution to a problem)

Synonyms

Noun

• cane
• baton

Examples of cudgel in a Sentence

Noun

a farmer armed with a cudgel drove us off his land

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Just the mere threat of a False Claims Act investigation is a powerful cudgel, lawyers say. —Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 22 Oct. 2025

Erin Simkin—Netflix Advertisement Likability can be a cudgel against female characters, and, thanks to Girls, Konner is used to dealing with questions on that subject. —Esther Zuckerman, Time, 21 Oct. 2025

Verb

Hitler exploited his 37% to gridlock legislative processes, to cudgel or crush the political opposition, and ultimately to undermine the country’s democratic structures. —Timothy Ryback, TIME, 26 Apr. 2024

Before long, fairs had such attractions as cudgelling bouts, bearbaiting, and something called gouging. —Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English kuggel, from Old English cycgel; perhaps akin to Middle High German kugele ball

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1596, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing cudgel

• cudgel one's brains

Kids Definition

cudgel

1 of 2 noun

cud·​gel ˈkəj-əl 

: a short heavy club

cudgel

2 of 2 verb

cudgeled or cudgelled; cudgeling or cudgelling

-(ə-)liŋ

: to beat with or as if with a cudgel