joust

American  

[joust, juhst, joost] / dʒaʊst, dʒʌst, dʒust /

noun

1. a combat in which two knights on horseback attempted to unhorse each other with blunted lances.

2. this type of combat fought in a highly formalized manner as part of a tournament.

3. jousts, a tournament.

4. a personal competition or struggle.

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verb (used without object)

1. to contend in a joust or tournament.

2. to contend, compete, or struggle.

   The candidates will joust in a television debate.

joust British  

/ dʒaʊst /

noun

1. a combat between two mounted knights tilting against each other with lances. A tournament consisted of a series of such engagements

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verb

1. (intr; often foll by against or with) to encounter or engage in such a tournament

   he jousted with five opponents

Other Word Forms

• jouster noun

Etymology

Origin of joust

1250–1300; (v.) Middle English justen, jousten < Old French juster, joster, jouster to tilt in the lists < Vulgar Latin *juxtāre to approach, clash, derivative of Latin juxtā approaching, bordering; (noun) Middle English juste, jouste < Old French juste, etc., derivative of juster

Example Sentences

His son, Prince Valarr, is shown participating at the joust at the end of the episode.

From Los Angeles Times

Either that, or “I never knew a joust to change the price of eggs.”

From Salon

These include regional fisheries bodies and the International Seabed Authority -- the forum where nations are jousting over proposed rules on the environmentally destructive deep-sea mining industry.

From Barron's

And like sword fights, jousting is never not entertaining.

From MarketWatch

“One of them’s bound to be suitable. Whoops! Easy, there, Tim! Mind your ladder, unless you want to try your hand at a bit of jousting.”

From Literature