as in cane
a heavy rigid stick used as a weapon or for punishment
a farmer armed with a cudgel drove us off his land
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in to bludgeon
Related Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cudgel
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 Apr. 2026
Building and construction unions no longer can use their old rhetorical cudgel in this debate — calling prefab homes flimsy and unsafe.
—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Apr. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for cudgel
Noun
The ostensible fear is that of identity hardening into a cudgel, foreshortening a character’s emotional palette.
—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 Apr. 2026
Building and construction unions no longer can use their old rhetorical cudgel in this debate — calling prefab homes flimsy and unsafe.
—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Apr. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for cudgel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cudgel
Noun
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Jung, who is going into his senior year of high school, said SmartBlink can detect pedestrians using wheelchairs, crutches or canes, too.
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An individual bush can grow up to 15 feet high and 40 feet long, with thick stems, also known as canes, marked by sharp, hooked thorns.
Verb
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Olivia launches her second escape by bludgeoning one of her captors with a metal pipe, grabbing his gun, and sprinting toward the red prison door.
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Glossip was convicted and sentenced to death in the killing of his former boss, Barry Van Treese, who owned the Oklahoma City motel where Glossip worked and died after being bludgeoned with a baseball bat, according to court filings.
Noun
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Alite provided loans at exorbitant rates before threatening violence to collect on them, authorities said, citing the discovery in his home of metal knuckles, an expandable baton, six baseball bats and about two dozen knives, including switchblades.
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Officers can use voice commands, and if those don’t work options include pepper spray, a baton, a TASER or fire extinguisher, though some are more difficult to use on a fast-moving animal, the directive says.
Verb
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Holder clouted Chameera for three sixes in four deliveries to end the 19th and leave West Indies needing six runs for victory.
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The 'merch hauls' on social media are awful, the desperate pathetic influencers trying to clout chase using the Masters are all awful.
Verb
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The race partly revolved around the war in Gaza, with Lander assailing Goldman for not being critical enough of Israel.
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Lander assailed Goldman for not being tough enough on Israel over its military action against Palestinians.
Verb
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These cubes are designed to reduce the time needed for chopping and measuring.
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Fisher chopped on to his leg stump on 0 and Tongue edged to first slip on 0, too.
Verb
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Kara and Ruthye figure out the Brigands are trafficking young women for dastardly purposes, giving them yet another reason to smack some dudes around.
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Schwarber was able to work a walk, and then Derek Hill, another pinch hitter, came up and smacked a home run that gave Philadelphia the lead in a win over the Nationals.
Verb
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The experience was not entirely dissimilar to getting whacked in the skull.
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Yet interpreting those rules can be almost as challenging as trying to whack the ball toward the flagstick.
Cite this Entry
“Cudgel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cudgel. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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