cudgel
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
idioms
-
take up the cudgels, to come to the defense or aid of someone or something.
-
cudgel one's brains, to try to comprehend or remember.
I cudgeled my brains to recall her name.
noun
-
a short stout stick used as a weapon
-
to join in a dispute, esp to defend oneself or another
verb
-
(tr) to strike with a cudgel or similar weapon
-
to think hard about a problem
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cudgel
before 900; Middle English cuggel, Old English cycgel; akin to German Kugel ball
Explanation
A cudgel is a thick club or stick, used to attack or defend against an attacker. A rioting mob might be armed with cudgels. A cudgel is a rough kind of weapon — the club a police officer carries, for example, is more likely to be called a baton or a truncheon. An angry protester might wield a cudgel, or a burglar might carry one along during a robbery. The Old English root of cudgel is cycgel, "club with a rounded head," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European geu, "to curve or to bend."
Vocabulary lists containing cudgel
Twelfth Night
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The Merchant of Venice
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 9
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
With this disillusioned preface, he sets out on the recital of the great fights and fighters from James Figg, master of "the Foil, Backsword, Cudgel, and Fist" to the redoubtable Dempsey.
From Time Magazine Archive
Cudgel his brains though he might, Harry could not remember Dumbledore ever mentioning a place in which he might hide something.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Cudgel your brains, my good fellow! this is very important.
From Man and Wife by Collins, Wilkie
Cudgel in hand, he sprang in and fastened the door behind him, ready for a duel with Master Reynard at close quarters.
From Stories of Animal Sagacity by Weir, Harrison
Cudgel my brains as I might I could hit upon no plan to get hold of him—at least, no plan to trap him with safety.
From The Boy Tar by Read, Edward
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
