Dictionary

bludgeon en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• (US) audio
• /ˈblʌd͡ʒ.ən/ (UK, US)
• /ˈblʊd͡ʒ.ən/ (Northern-England)

Etymology

First attested in 1730. Origin uncertain, perhaps of Cornish origin (recorded as blogon c. 1450) or from Middle French bougeon, a diminutive of bouge (“club, stick”).

Meanings

1. A short, heavy club, often of wood, which is thicker or loaded at one end.
   • We smashed the radio with a steel bludgeon.
2. (figuratively) Something used to coerce someone.
   • Because it could be used as a bludgeon to force industries to accept any terms, however unreasonable or unfair, the Overton-Russell amendment ought to be discarded by the House of Representatives. 1940 August 29, “Action in the Senate”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
   • In a cultural moment when faith is often used as a bludgeon for our political and ideological enemies, we need space to talk about belief and practice with nuance, curiosity and reflection. 2021 August 22, Tish Harrison Warren, “Why We Need to Start Talking About God”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Aug 2021:
   • In our country Marxism is neither a philosophy nor a scientific method. It is a bludgeon. It falls into the category of police power. 1982, Boris Pasternak, translated by Elliott Mossman and Margaret Wettlin, “Diary”, in Elliott Mossman, editor, The Correspondence of Boris Pasternak and Olga Freidenberg, 1910-1954, New York, N.Y.; London: Helen and Kurt Wolff/Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, →ISBN, section IX, page 303:

Forms

Deriveds

bludgeonry

Relateds

truncheon

Translations (53)

ru дуби́нка (short heavy club) · nb klubbe (short heavy club) · de Knüppel (short heavy club) · hu husáng (short heavy club) · mi hauhau (short heavy club) · ga smachtín (short heavy club) · cs obušek (short heavy club) · ru дуби́на (short heavy club) · be дручо́к (short heavy club) · sk obušok (short heavy club) · mi timo (short heavy club) · ky таяк (short heavy club) · uk дубе́ць (short heavy club) · es garrote (short heavy club) · pl maczuga (short heavy club) · ja 棍棒 (short heavy club) · hu fütykös (short heavy club) · nl knuppel (short heavy club) · uk па́лиця (short heavy club) · uk дрючо́к (short heavy club) · cmn 棍棒 (short heavy club) · gl moca (short heavy club) · tr sopa (short heavy club) · bg къса сопа (short heavy club) · be дубі́нка (short heavy club) · pt clava (short heavy club) · lv runga (short heavy club) · gl acotante (short heavy club) · fi nuija (short heavy club) · hu furkósbot (short heavy club) · ky союл (short heavy club) · ltg bulstaks (short heavy club) · be даўбе́шка (short heavy club) · hy մահակ (short heavy club) · sa गदा (short heavy club) · es maza (short heavy club) · es cachiporra (short heavy club) · ltg vāza (short heavy club) · gl pertego (short heavy club) · fr matraque (short heavy club) · es clava (short heavy club) · hu bunkósbot (short heavy club) · uk кийо́к (short heavy club) · ky келтек (short heavy club) · gl cacheiro (short heavy club) · nn klubbe (short heavy club) · it mazza (short heavy club) · es porra (short heavy club) · sv klubba (short heavy club) · ar هِرَاوَة (short heavy club) · pl pałka (short heavy club) · ka ლახტი (short heavy club) · ru па́лица (short heavy club)

bludgeon en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• (US) audio
• /ˈblʌd͡ʒ.ən/ (UK, US)
• /ˈblʊd͡ʒ.ən/ (Northern-England)

Etymology

First attested in 1730. Origin uncertain, perhaps of Cornish origin (recorded as blogon c. 1450) or from Middle French bougeon, a diminutive of bouge (“club, stick”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To strike or hit with something hard, usually on the head; to club.
   • The apprehended rioter was bludgeoned to death.
   • They didn't get shot to death in hold-ups, strangled to death in rapes, stabbed to death in saloons, bludgeoned to death with axes by parents or children or die summarily by some other act of God. 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 168:
   • Thomas Briggs, a senior bank clerk in the City, lived in Hackney, and on 9 July 1864 he was returning there by train from Fenchurch Street after a Saturday spent at work when he was bludgeoned to death in a first-class carriage, probably by a young German tailor named Franz Müller. (Let's hope it was Müller, because he was hanged for it.) And so Briggs was an all-round pioneer: an early commuter and the very first victim of a railway murder. 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, pages 16–17:
2. (figuratively, transitive) To coerce someone, as if with a bludgeon.
   • Gianna Parasini: You've never worked in the corporate world, have you, Commander? You can't bludgeon through bureaucracy. Shepard: I can bludgeon pretty hard. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria:
   • Their favorite method was bludgeoning us with the same old arguments in favor of their opinions.

Forms

Deriveds

unbludgeoned · bludgeoner

Relateds

beat · clobber

Synonyms

harass (coerce) · cudgel (to club) · pummel (coerce)

Translations (32)

sv klubba (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · es aporrear (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · ky келтекте (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · ca atupar (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · fi nuijia (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · nb klubbe (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · nb klubbe ned (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · ky таякта (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · cmn 逼迫 (to force upon) · cmn 棍打 (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · ca apallissar (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · pl przymuszać (to force upon) · ca colpejar (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · ja 殴る (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · ca garrotejar (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · de aufzwingen (to force upon) · fr matraquer (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · fr soutirer (to force upon) · fi jyrätä (to force upon) · pl zmuszać (to force upon) · nl afdwingen (to force upon) · pl uderzać pałką (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · nl neerknuppelen (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · nn klubbe (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · pl przymusić (to force upon) · pl zmusić (to force upon) · pl uderzyć pałką (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · sv klubba till (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · de niederknüppeln (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · ca bastonejar (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · ar يَهْرِي (to club, hit with a bludgeon) · de knüppeln (to club, hit with a bludgeon)