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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cudgel
Jc Hallman, Oklahoma Watch, 22 Mar. 2026
As Californians look toward the 2026 governor’s race, candidates on both sides of the aisle are once again wielding crime as a political cudgel.
—Jose Bernal, Oc Register, 24 Feb. 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
That blast and another nearby killed 13 Americans and hundreds of Afghans; the bombings became a political cudgel and a violent symbol of the messy end of the longest war in American history.
—Jc Hallman, Oklahoma Watch, 22 Mar. 2026
As Californians look toward the 2026 governor’s race, candidates on both sides of the aisle are once again wielding crime as a political cudgel.
—Jose Bernal, Oc Register, 24 Feb. 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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Video footage of disabled military veterans—some in wheelchairs, others leaning on canes—being zip-tied and dragged out of the Capitol Rotunda for staging a peaceful, anti-war protest.—
John Whitehead,
Oc Register,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Steinem entered the quietly buzzing room wearing all black and clutching a wooden cane painted with blue and pink birds in her right hand.—
Savannah Walsh,
Vanity Fair,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Authorities say Pamela Austin was found bludgeoned and stabbed to death, and Michael Austin appeared dead from a manner of suicide.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
19 Apr. 2026
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Throughout Season 51, sketches have buckled under dragging runtimes, one-note jokes bludgeoned to death and facile concepts; earlier this year, another first time host, Teyana Taylor, was similarly let down by sketches that couldn’t match her depth and range as a performer.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Barrett said another video released Monday showed an activist taking a baton away from an officer as protesters tried to rush the gate to the facility.—
Scott Bauer,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Apr. 2026
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But Adami cautioned investors against overthinking the baton-passing.—
Alex Harring,
CNBC,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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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.—
Kait Hanson,
Southern Living,
13 Apr. 2026
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But they are outnumbered by propagandists, trolls, anxious commentators, war-market gamblers, and clout chasers who, apparently, became experts on the Strait of Hormuz overnight.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
14 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The incident has raised suspicions here of a much broader involvement in Mexico by the CIA, an agency long assailed in Latin America because of its decades-long involvement in coups, assassination attempts and other undercover actions.—
Kate Linthicum,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
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In the years following the departure of Ailes, many critics further assailed the network for eroding any line between news reporting and commentary and political advocacy.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This recipe calls for three carrots, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces.—
Jenna Sims,
Southern Living,
21 Apr. 2026
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Her platinum blonde hair was chopped into a chin-grazing cut that was curled under at the ends to give a voluminous appearance.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Varma smacked Ashok Sharma for 26 runs from three sixes and two fours in the 18th, and reached his hundred with a six and a four off Prasidh Krishna’s last two balls in the final over that went for 22.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 Apr. 2026
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Near mile marker 161, about six miles from the summit, the 2020 Freightliner smacked the barrier wall on the right side of the road.—
Logan Smith,
CBS News,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
That should earn him more pitches to whack.—
Zack Meisel,
New York Times,
16 Apr. 2026
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But in Oakland, where the homeless population is well over 5,000 by official estimates, some advocates have questioned whether tent clearings create a whack-a-mole problem — given that most homeless residents have nowhere else to go.—
Shomik Mukherjee,
Mercury News,
15 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cudgel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cudgel. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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