nunchuck

noun nun·chuck \ ˈnən-ˌchək \

variants: or less commonly nunchuk

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Definition of nunchuck

plural nunchucks also nunchuks

: a weapon that consists of two sticks joined by a short length of cord, chain, or rawhide : nunchaku —usually plural

For a time, he walked around with a set of nunchucks in a holster strapped to his leg, like a six-shooter …
—Patrick Redden Keefe

… surprised a pair of burglars, one of whom was carrying a knife and two nunchuks.
—American Rifleman

Recent Examples of nunchuck from the Web

That vision comes down to mixing together worlds, with nods to privilege (a silver spoon jutting out from a model’s mouth) or sometimes stereotypical odes to Asian culture (a denim and suede purse made out of nunchucks).

— liana satenstein, Vogue, "Asai Is the Red-Hot London Label Delivering Clothes in Chinese Takeout Boxes," 12 June 2018
Officers seized high-capacity magazines, a pair of nunchucks and cocaine, according to Suttles, who said Selin Charmaholi’s brother, Sergey Charmaholi, 34, was allegedly responsible for supplying the drug.

— andy nguyen, latimes.com, "Weapons arsenal uncovered during probation check leads to arrest of Glendale siblings," 31 May 2018
Garcia followed him outside with a pair of nunchucks, and the two started brawling, Baytown police said in a release.

— keri blakinger, Houston Chronicle, "Nunchuck-wielding man stabbed in back of head in Baytown," 25 Feb. 2018
Folks doing the killings in urban Louisville and in rural communities like Benton and West Paducah and Grayson, where Kentucky's school killings have taken place, aren’t using knives, swords or nunchucks.

— joseph gerth, The Courier-Journal, "Any 'honest' talk about how to prevent school shootings has to include guns | Gerth," 26 Jan. 2018
Garcia allegedly hit Liepold with the nunchucks, and Liepold responded by stabbing Garcia in the back of the head, arm and hand, according to police.

— keri blakinger, Houston Chronicle, "Nunchuck-wielding man stabbed in back of head in Baytown," 25 Feb. 2018
What follows is the film’s funniest scene, as the suddenly spry Amy, in an attempt to save her friends, refashions sausages into nunchucks and sandwich tinfoil into explosives.

— teo bugbee, New York Times, "Review: ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ Keeps the Songs but Loses the Plot," 20 Dec. 2017
Director Trish Sie, who is known for having overseen several of OK Go's intricate music videos, fails to make much out of the scuffles - sausages used as nunchucks? - or the accidental trashing of a pricey hotel room.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "'Pitch Perfect 3' movie review: Oh, shut up, already.," 22 Dec. 2017
But researchers have now shown a robot how to flip nunchucks to demonstrate an intuitive approach for teaching complex manual tasks.

— edd gent, Science | AAAS, "Watch this robot use nunchucks, after learning like a human student would," 25 Sep. 2017

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