cudgel en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈkʌd͡ʒəl/
Etymology
From Middle English kuggel, from Old English cyċġel (“a large stick, cudgel”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuggil, from Proto-Germanic *kuggilaz (“a knobbed instrument”), derivative of Proto-Germanic *kuggǭ (“cog, swelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewgʰ- (“swelling, bow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”), equivalent to cog + -el (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Middle Dutch coghele (“a stick with a rounded end”).
Meanings
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A short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon.
The guard hefted his cudgel menacingly and looked at the inmates.
So when he aroſe, he getteth him a grievous Crab-tree cudgel, and goes down into the Dungeon to them; and there firſt falls to Rateing of them, as if they were dogs: […]
1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 114:Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.
1883, Howard Pyle, “Robin Hood Turns Butcher”, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC, part second, page 48:
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(figuratively) Anything that can be used as a threat to force one's will on another.
[Montana Senator Steve] Daines isn’t the only example of right-wing politicians who wish to wield anti-Semitism as a convenient cudgel against their political enemies, with scant if any evidence. But Montana’s vanishingly small Jewish population makes it particularly clear that this strategy has little to do with flesh-and-blood Jews at all.
2019 July 17, Talia Lavin, “When Non-Jews Wield Anti-Semitism as Political Shield”, in GQ, archived from the original on 13 Mar 2021:Mrs. Clinton’s Senate tenure, however, also demonstrated the risks of overcompensation: Not wanting to give Republicans fodder to portray her as soft on defense, she authorized President Bush to use force in Iraq and handed Mr. Obama a political cudgel to use against her.
2015 April 15, Jonathan Martin, “For a Clinton, It’s Not Hard to Be Humble in an Effort to Regain Power”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Nov 2020:As above said, legibility depends also much on the design of the letter; and again I take up the cudgels against compressed type, and that especially in Roman letters: […]
1893, William Morris, The Ideal Book, published 1908:Mr. Cruz has been able to use his pseudo-intellectualism and his Ivy League pedigree as a cudgel.
2021 January 11, Mimi Swartz, “Never Forget What Ted Cruz Did”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2021:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| cudgels | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
take up the cudgel for · becudgel
Translations (60)
is lurkur (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · ota كوتك (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · hy մահակ (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · hu náspáng (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · pl pałka (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · pt bordão (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · it bastone (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · oc tavèla (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · fi ryhmysauva (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · da knippel (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · fr gourdin (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · pdt Pruntel (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · io bastono (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · cy pastwn (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · la fūstis (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · ba суҡмар (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · bbl კომპალ (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · mi hauhau (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · ota چوماق (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · ota صوپه (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · hu furkósbot (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · bg сопа (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · fi ase (anything that can be used as a threat to force one's will) · sv klubba (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · ko 몽둥이 (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · es mazo (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · fa چماق (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · la clāva (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · non klubba (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · gl moca (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · oj bagamaagan (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · ru дуби́нка (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · nl knuppel (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · ga smachtín (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · tl pambatikos (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · grc ῥόπαλον (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · fa گوپال (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · it randello (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · sh močuga (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · ga cleith (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · alt чокпор (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · sh buzdovan (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · oc barròt (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · is kylfa (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · unm pahkàskinkwehikàn (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · de Knüppel (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · hu bunkósbot (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · sv påk (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · cs kyj (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · sh toljaga (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · pl maczuga (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · sh batina (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · pl maczuga (anything that can be used as a threat to force one's will) · hu husáng (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · udi кӏовал (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · wyi kud-jee-run (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · la caia (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · el ρόπαλο (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · fi nuija (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon) · hu fütykös (short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon)