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

“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

By watching the joust, astronomers got to see what happens when a galaxy finds itself on the wrong end of a quasar.

From Space Scoop

Fleetwood and Thomas jousted through the back nine and also made it to the last all square.

From BBC

Verbal jousting on British and Irish Lions tours is as much a part of the deal as the rugby itself - and the mind games started anew in recent days.

From BBC

I groaned to see a giant fork and spoon mounted on the kitchen wall of one of Marvin’s for-sale properties, then smiled when the silverware got ripped down and repurposed as jousting weapons.

From Los Angeles Times