Dictionary

tipstaff en · NOUN

Etymology

From tip + staff.

Meanings

1. A ceremonial staff, with a metal tip, carried by a constable or bailiff etc as a sign of office
2. An officer, of a court etc. who carries such a staff
   • Fire and furies, do a set of boozing tipstaves think to take the man who outwitted Jeffreys and slipped through Kirke's lambs?" 1897, Stanley John Weyman, chapter XII, in Shrewsbury:

Forms