cudgel
Other forms: cudgels; cudgelled; cudgelling; cudgeled; cudgeling
A cudgel is a thick club or stick, used to attack or defend against an attacker. A rioting mob might be armed with cudgels.
A cudgel is a rough kind of weapon — the club a police officer carries, for example, is more likely to be called a baton or a truncheon. An angry protester might wield a cudgel, or a burglar might carry one along during a robbery. The Old English root of cudgel is cycgel, "club with a rounded head," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European geu, "to curve or to bend."
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Vocabulary lists containing cudgel
After a shipwreck separates her from her twin brother, Viola disguises herself as a man so she can pass safely through the land of Illyria. There she befriends Duke Orsino and tries to help him win the affections of Countess Olivia. Read the full text here.
When Bassanio, a merchant, needs money to court Portia, his friend Antonio makes a risky deal with a moneylender. Read the full text here.
