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
Words Nearby cudgel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cudgel in a sentence
Aquino credited his parents with imbuing in him the desire to “take up the cudgels for those who have less in life, for the powerless,” he told Time magazine in 2010 while running for president.
Benigno Aquino III, Philippine president who fought corruption and Chinese territorial claims, dies at 61 | Regine Cabato, William Branigin | June 24, 2021 | Washington PostGaetz is a prolific user of social media and the kind of social media user who alternately deploys it for jokes or as a cudgel.
That the issue is being used as a cudgel targeting Democrats isn’t subtle.
The one simple tell that reveals Fox News’s Seuss obsession for what it is | Philip Bump | March 4, 2021 | Washington PostWith high mandatory sentences as a cudgel, prosecutors pervasively threaten defendants with draconian charges that could lead to years of imprisonment.
A fed-up judge condemns the inequities in America’s legal system | Michael Bobelian | February 19, 2021 | Washington PostThat be it as it may, this cudgel that is used to make this man we can call The Mark feel like he’s lucky to be where he is, is actually working since he clearly feels bad about where he might be.
What It Means When Your Wife Says She Slept With George Clooney | Eugene Robinson | December 8, 2020 | Ozy
You have this privilege to be famous and you use it as a cudgel?
Canada’s Subversive Sock Puppet: Ed the Sock Isn’t Afraid to Say Anything | Soraya Roberts | November 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTGina Dominguez, the spokeswoman for Gov. Javier Duarte and his cudgel with the local press, resigned a mere three days later.
The insane, obscene, yawning difference between the pay of workers and bosses has long been used as a cudgel by labor groups.
The SEC Can’t Make CEOs Care About Their Employees | Daniel Gross | September 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThey just want any cudgel they can find to beat Obama over the head, so Snowden suits their purposes for now.
The cudgel that President Obama is whacking House Republicans with is the cudgel they themselves put in his hand.
That's the very way we lost the battle:—for had the two parties never met, depend on't, one had never cudgel'd the other.
The Battle of Hexham; | George ColmanThe higher classes have generally handsome pistols or great knives, the others content themselves with a good cudgel.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil | Maria GrahamBehind him on the roof of one of the houses we saw a man with a long cudgel which he shook at the monkey.
Kari the Elephant | Dhan Gopal MukerjiHe still carried his cane, but he had no use for it, save to clutch it in one hand more after the manner of a cudgel than a cane.
The Rival Campers | Ruel Perley SmithI am about to fulfil a great act of justice by braining you with my cudgel like a wolf caught in a trap.
The Pilgrim's Shell or Fergan the Quarryman | Eugne Sue
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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