as in batons
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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cudgels
Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
While the conservative pushback and Trump’s cudgels are encouraging some companies to abandon formal DEI policies, analysts say an emphasis on diversity continues and is quietly evolving beneath the surface.
—William Becker, The Hill, 11 Aug. 2025
Major events, like football games, are often used as cudgels to force a deal, with both the distributor and broadcaster eager to ensure the events are available to subscribers.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
When words lose their original meanings and are repurposed as verbal cudgels, the public sphere becomes a jungle of denunciation, intimidation, and even violence.
—Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
While the conservative pushback and Trump’s cudgels are encouraging some companies to abandon formal DEI policies, analysts say an emphasis on diversity continues and is quietly evolving beneath the surface.
—William Becker, The Hill, 11 Aug. 2025
Major events, like football games, are often used as cudgels to force a deal, with both the distributor and broadcaster eager to ensure the events are available to subscribers.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cudgels
Noun
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Illinois State Police troopers rushed in, batons in hand, and held back the crowd.—
Natasha Korecki,
NBC news,
13 Oct. 2025
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The plaintiffs later accused the department of violating the order by hitting journalists with batons and arresting them during an August protest.—
BrieAnna J. Frank,
USA Today,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Take your time to let the pork chops sear and brown.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
4 Oct. 2025
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If the stock chops around, the trade can be scaled by layering additional spreads.—
Nishant Pant,
CNBC,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This makes room for the growth of new canes, which are more productive.—
Rita Perwich,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Oct. 2025
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Cover the pot and the bottom few inches of the rose canes with soil, then add a layer of mulch for insulation.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Fanning flatlines when left to be a solo show as Bertino whacks her around like a pinball, hitting big, loud scares that seem to keep resetting.—
J. Kim Murphy,
Variety,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Ten years after his expulsion, Saleh’s third feature in the trilogy, after Boy From Heaven, socks it to Egypt’s military leaders and General Intelligence Service (GIS), and by implication al-Sisi.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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This all played out just after the museum had opened, with bystanders able to video one suspect in a high-visibility vest standing at one of the glass boxes housing historical treasures.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
20 Oct. 2025
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That confusion is further reflected by the manic hyper-subjectivity of Bronstein’s filmmaking, which boxes Linda into a close-up so tight that everything around her — especially her unnamed daughter, who almost never appears on screen — might as well be a disembodied echo of her own anxiety.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Lo then bludgeons Richard in the head with a metal pipe and kills him.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The series really hammers home Scorsese’s exploration of good and evil in his work.—
Katie Kilkenny,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Oct. 2025
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While Arj is off living the good life, the pair now have to scrape together enough money to survive, and the movie once again hammers home the injustices of the gig economy.—
Hershal Pandya,
Vulture,
7 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cudgels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cudgels. Accessed 25 Oct. 2025.
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