joust

verb

\ˈjau̇st, sometimes ˈjəst or ˈjüst

\

jousted; jousting; jousts

Definition of joust

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1a : to fight on horseback as a knight or man-at-arms

b : to engage in combat with lances on horseback

2 : to engage in combat or competition as if in a joust jousting debaters jousting bighorn rams

joust

noun

Definition of joust (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : a combat on horseback between two knights with lances especially as part of a tournament

b jousts plural : tournament

2 : a personal combat or competition : struggle

Other Words from joust More Example Sentences Learn More about joust

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of joust in a Sentence

Verb

The knights jousted against each other.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The key question: As President Xi Jinping strives to curb debt and jousts with Donald Trump over trade, how much of the potential drag can the new growth drivers offset? — Bloomberg.com, "China’s Economic Growth Remains Robust Amid Strong Retail Sales," 17 Apr. 2018 At a meeting in Quebec last month, Mr. Trump jousted with European leaders not only on trade but also on immigration, Russian relations, terrorism and other matters, and then walked away from a joint statement prepared by the group. — Bojan Pancevski, WSJ, "Summit Looms for a Strained NATO Alliance," 9 July 2018 But the theater’s intimacy allows for unamplified vocals and raises the emotional stakes of the piece, with its combustive romantic triangle and unstable magical kingdom of unicorns, fairies and jousting knights. — Julia M. Klein, Philly.com, "Act II Playhouse's 'Camelot' a scaled-down yet powerful portrayal," 27 May 2018 As Tesla struggled to produce the Model 3, Mr. Musk brushed aside warnings from executives on production goals, complicated Tesla’s assembly process and spooked Wall Street by jousting with analysts. — Susan Pulliam, WSJ, "Elon Musk Races to Exit Tesla’s ‘Production Hell’," 27 June 2018 The Celtics and 76ers now joust for LeBron's vacated Eastern dominance. — Greg Cote, miamiherald, "Melo to Miami? How Heat’s interest in Carmelo Anthony reveals one team’s desperation," 11 July 2018 From his perch atop the shoulders of his mother’s boyfriend, Kai Oliver raised his red, white and blue light saber in a patriotic en garde, prepared to joust with the Washington Monument. — Reis Thebault, Washington Post, "Fourth of July celebrations more meaningful, worrisome for some Americans," 4 July 2018 As the Republican establishment and conservative insurgents joust among themselves, so do establishment Democrats and progressives such as Ocasio-Cortez who were energized by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential candidacy in 2016. — Michael Smolens, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Immigration reform seems impossible now ... and forever?," 1 July 2018 Mascots ranging from local favorites such as Kingston (Orlando City) and Knightro (UCF) to Nebraska’s Lil’ Red jousted, danced and threw t-shirts to prove their worthiness to the mascot world. — Patrick Connolly, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Mascots joust, dance their way to the top at 25th Mascot Games," 23 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The joust-and-eat prototype for Medieval Times was created in 1973 by an entrepreneur who wanted to capture the tourist trade in Majorca, Spain. — Kim Severson, New York Times, "Medieval Times Goes Modern, Replacing Its Kings With Queens," 29 Jan. 2018 The interactive festival includes jousts, a mermaid lagoon, beautiful crafts from metalsmiths, woodworkers and leather artists (to name just a few) and entertainment on 27 stages. — Clare Miers, star-telegram, "Break out of your normal Mother's Day routine with these different experiences | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 8 May 2018 There's no better way to build a rivalry than a playoff series, and this should be quite a first-round joust. — Curtis Zupke, latimes.com, "A look at the first-round matchup between the Kings and the Vegas Golden Knights," 9 Apr. 2018 The Zambonis that drive on the ice have jousts mounted on their sides to simulate a duel. — Ken Belson, New York Times, "As Golden Knights Soar, Las Vegas Stakes Its Claim as a Sports Town," 27 Feb. 2018 Daniel José Molina and Alejandra Escalante play the King of Navarre and the Princess of France, who lead their friends in a merry chase through estates and quotations, plays and jousts, the nature of abstinence, and, of course, true love. — OregonLive.com, "Here's your guide to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2018 season," 17 Feb. 2018 This year's theme is Feats of Strength, and will feature a gladiator joust, punching arcade, thumb wrestling, tattoo contest, climbing wall and a selfie booth. — Post-Tribune, "Community news," 8 Feb. 2018 The role of public-interest oversight is not to mediate special-interest jousts, but to protect consumers, better understood as citizens. — WSJ, "Net Neutrality, For and Against," 14 Dec. 2017 Here, each verbal joust between D and B-Real (rhyming partners rather than each other’s hype man) and Morello crunch crackles like fire. — Philly.com, "Cat Stevens' new album features songs he wrote 50 years ago," 14 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'joust.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about joust

Dictionary Entries near joust

jousting helmet

Statistics for joust

Last Updated

16 Oct 2018

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for joust

The first known use of joust was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for joust

joust

verb

English Language Learners Definition of joust

of knights in the Middle Ages : to fight on horseback with lances

joust

verb

\ˈjau̇st

\

jousted; jousting

Kids Definition of joust

(Entry 1 of 2)

: to take part in a combat on horseback with a lance

joust

noun

Kids Definition of joust (Entry 2 of 2)

: a combat on horseback between two knights with lances

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

rebuff

to reject or criticize sharply

Test Your Vocabulary

Words from Greek and Roman Mythology Quiz

Boreal comes from the name of the ancient Greek god of which wind?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games