cudgel
a short, thick stick used as a weapon; club.
to strike with a cudgel; beat.
Idioms about cudgel
cudgel one's brains, to try to comprehend or remember: I cudgeled my brains to recall her name.
take up the cudgels, to come to the defense or aid of someone or something.
Origin of cudgel
1Other words from cudgel
- cudg·el·er; especially British, cud·gel·ler, noun
- un·cudg·eled, adjective
- un·cudg·elled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cudgel in a sentence
If anybody asked her a question she answered simply without cudgeling her brains for any wise or witty reply.
Girls and Women | Harriet E. Paine (AKA E. Chester}Edouard was in despair, and Lampin was cudgeling his brains, swearing that they should not take him alive.
Brother Jacques (Novels of Paul de Kock, Volume XVII) | Charles Paul de KockHe was surprised to find that by cudgeling his memory he had no need to call upon imagination to furnish interesting details.
The Missing Formula | Mildred A. Wirt, AKA Ann WirtThus his research becomes a cudgeling of the brain, an introspective speculation.
The Positive Outcome of Philosophy | Joseph DietzgenShe lay awake nearly all night, vainly cudgeling her brains for some plan by which to deliver her father from his confinement.
British Dictionary definitions for cudgel
/ (ˈkʌdʒəl) /
a short stout stick used as a weapon
take up the cudgels (often foll by for or on behalf of) to join in a dispute, esp to defend oneself or another
(tr) to strike with a cudgel or similar weapon
cudgel one's brains to think hard about a problem
Origin of cudgel
1Derived forms of cudgel
- cudgeller, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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