variants
also shillalah
as in cane
a heavy rigid stick used as a weapon or for punishment
the bartender in the Irish pub keeps a shillelagh behind the bar just in case there's trouble
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shillelagh
McDonagh had some help from Finn Balor, who hit Sheamus with a shillelagh when the referee was distracted.
—
Fernando Quiles Jr, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Oct. 2025
Kelly professionalized a program that kept tripping over its own shillelagh.
—Pete Sampson, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2025
Sheamus brought Rusev to the first row and then hit the 10 Beats for yet a third time, this time with a shillelagh.
—Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
Maier, who was heading out of town that weekend for a meeting of the National League of Cities, saw the foot-long shillelagh and, according to a Milwaukee Sentinel story by Marta Bender, mistook it for a pipe.
—Chris Foran, jsonline.com, 3 July 2025
The original shillelagh was retired with a new one introduced in 1997.
—Tom Layberger, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
Fernando Quiles Jr, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Oct. 2025
Kelly professionalized a program that kept tripping over its own shillelagh.
—Pete Sampson, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2025
Sheamus brought Rusev to the first row and then hit the 10 Beats for yet a third time, this time with a shillelagh.
—Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
Maier, who was heading out of town that weekend for a meeting of the National League of Cities, saw the foot-long shillelagh and, according to a Milwaukee Sentinel story by Marta Bender, mistook it for a pipe.
—Chris Foran, jsonline.com, 3 July 2025
The original shillelagh was retired with a new one introduced in 1997.
—Tom Layberger, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shillelagh
Noun
-
Betye Saar practically levitates into the room wearing a Max Mara jacket that resembles a bird’s plumage, with a butter-yellow silk Dior dress grazing the ground behind her and a cane in her hand.—
Julissa James,
Los Angeles Times,
7 May 2026
-
Bad Bunny went full costume, carrying a cane and dressing up as an older version of himself with gray hair and special effects makeup to add years to his face.—
Beatrice Dupuy,
Chicago Tribune,
5 May 2026
Noun
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Harper and Fox each scored 24 points and Stephon Castle added 20 as the Spurs guards unflinchingly took the baton from their 7-foot-4 superstar and turned the rest of the night into a midrange clinic with an array of pull-up jumpers in and around the paint.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
11 May 2026
-
With the top line of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis still in the starting blocks, as far as production goes, the second line has grabbed the baton and finished two legs of the race.—
Sean Gentille,
New York Times,
10 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shillelagh.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shillelagh. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
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