: a short heavy club
The eighteenth-century audience went to the theatre armed with whistles, rattles, … and sometimes even wooden cudgels.—
Ronald Hayman
Ronald Hayman
cudgeled or cudgelled; cudgeling or cudgelling
ˈkəj-liŋ 
ˈkə-jə-
: to beat with or as if with a cudgel
Synonyms
Examples of cudgel in a Sentence
Noun
a farmer armed with a cudgel drove us off his land
Recent Examples on the WebDemocrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 11 Apr. 2024
Clay had famously fought off six brothers who had attacked him with guns, daggers and cudgels at a political debate, killing one with a knife.
—Jon Grinspan, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024
Technically, the legislation that passed overwhelmingly in the House on Wednesday is a cudgel that seeks to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app to a non-Chinese entity.
—Allison Morrow, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024
The letter is the latest in a line of expert and intraparty concerns raised about the misuse of the impeachment process against Mayorkas, arguing that it is being used as a political cudgel.
—Jacqueline Alemany, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2024
Politicians have occasionally wielded statements by military leaders as a cudgel against the opposing party or relied on popular military leaders to sell their wartime policies to the public.
—Risa Brooks, Foreign Affairs, 20 Mar. 2024
It cannot be eaten or worn, lived in or wielded as a cudgel.
—Elizabeth Barber, Harper's Magazine, 8 Feb. 2024
And institutions need divergent voices and inclusive policies to thrive, but their programs should not be used as a cudgel for conformity.
—Mary Ellen Klas, Twin Cities, 28 Jan. 2024
Judy said that not approving Florida’s import plan would have given DeSantis and Trump a cudgel with which to hit Biden.
—John Wilkerson, STAT, 5 Jan. 2024
Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2023
Yet doing away with the government’s critic-cudgelling arsenal should be a much higher priority.
—The Economist, 20 July 2019
In the winter of 1775-76, Dunbar didn’t stand a chance against the 40 patriots in Farmington, Conn., who cudgeled him nearly to death near his home.
—Caitlin Fitz, WSJ, 11 July 2017
Noun
Republican critics of President Joe Biden have sough to pin the blame for high prices on the president and use it as a cudgel to derail his re-election bid.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 11 Apr. 2024
Clay had famously fought off six brothers who had attacked him with guns, daggers and cudgels at a political debate, killing one with a knife.
—Jon Grinspan, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024
Technically, the legislation that passed overwhelmingly in the House on Wednesday is a cudgel that seeks to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app to a non-Chinese entity.
—Allison Morrow, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024
The letter is the latest in a line of expert and intraparty concerns raised about the misuse of the impeachment process against Mayorkas, arguing that it is being used as a political cudgel.
—Jacqueline Alemany, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2024
Politicians have occasionally wielded statements by military leaders as a cudgel against the opposing party or relied on popular military leaders to sell their wartime policies to the public.
—Risa Brooks, Foreign Affairs, 20 Mar. 2024
It cannot be eaten or worn, lived in or wielded as a cudgel.
—Elizabeth Barber, Harper's Magazine, 8 Feb. 2024
And institutions need divergent voices and inclusive policies to thrive, but their programs should not be used as a cudgel for conformity.
—Mary Ellen Klas, Twin Cities, 28 Jan. 2024
Judy said that not approving Florida’s import plan would have given DeSantis and Trump a cudgel with which to hit Biden.
—John Wilkerson, STAT, 5 Jan. 2024
Verb
Before long, fairs had such attractions as cudgelling bouts, bearbaiting, and something called gouging.
—Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2023
Yet doing away with the government’s critic-cudgelling arsenal should be a much higher priority.
—The Economist, 20 July 2019
In the winter of 1775-76, Dunbar didn’t stand a chance against the 40 patriots in Farmington, Conn., who cudgeled him nearly to death near his home.
—Caitlin Fitz, WSJ, 11 July 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cudgel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Dictionary Entries Near cudgel
Cite this Entry
“Cudgel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cudgel. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids 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
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