joust

play

verb \ˈjau̇st sometimes ˈjəst or ˈjüst\

Definition of joust

intransitive verb
1a : to fight on horseback as a knight or man-at-armsb : 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

jouster

noun

See joust defined for English-language learners

Examples of joust in a Sentence

The knights jousted against each other.

Recent Examples of joust from the Web

The network’s reporters now routinely joust with Mr. Trump’s press aides, and Jim Acosta, a White House correspondent, recently denounced the administration’s use of off-camera briefings as an affront to American values.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "White House Warns CNN That Critical Coverage Could Cost Time Warner Its Merger," 6 July 2017
Riley and Celtics president Danny Ainge – now direct competitors jousting for Hayward – have an animus for each other dating to the 1980s.

— greg cote, miamiherald, "Pat Riley must first top Danny Ainge for a chance to topple Lebron James," 1 July 2017
For more than a year, Free Lives, a video game studio based in Cape Town, South Africa, have been working on a game about jousting penises.

— joshua rivera, GQ, "Check Out This Game About Jousting Dicks," 28 June 2017
Liesgen, though, is unfazed, jousting amicably with her father.

— cynthia r. greenlee, Bon Appetit, "People Used to Be So Scared of Coffee That Bach Wrote a Cantata About It," 14 June 2017
Corbyn, by contrast, was, like Donald Trump, the underdog populist from beyond the Westminster bubble, known for jousting with the political class in both parties.

— michael j. totten, The Atlantic, "Why the Rise of Corbyn's Labour Party Should Worry the West," 13 June 2017
There are chases and jousts galore, a crushing wall threat, and numerous ray-gun battles in which the good shoot straight and the evil fire erratically, as is requited in fantasy adventures.

— james meade, sandiegouniontribune.com, "From the archives: 1977 'Star Wars' review," 25 May 2017
With jousting for viewing spots an issue almost every year, Motley, albeit reluctantly, shared some secrets underlying the Broadway and Stark Club's ability to establish a beachhead at the same location every single year.

— special to the oregonian, OregonLive.com, "Grand Floral Parade will have a new route for 2017," 24 May 2017
The five were arrested at Westlake Park, where a group claiming to support Trump at time verbally jousted with other protesters.

— seattle times staff, The Seattle Times, "Does peaceful May Day signal Seattle’s no longer in protesters’ bull’s-eye?," 2 May 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.

Origin and Etymology of joust

Middle English, from Anglo-French juster to unite, joust, from Vulgar Latin *juxtare, from Latin juxta near; akin to Latin jungere to join — more at yoke

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

Other History Terms

agonistic, carpetbagger, enceinte, fief, historiography, paladin

joust

noun

Definition of joust

1a : a combat on horseback between two knights with lances especially as part of a tournamentb jousts plural : tournament
2 : a personal combat or competition : struggle