knobkerrie

[ nob-ker-ee ]

noun
  1. a short, heavy wooden club with a knob on one end, used especially by native peoples of South Africa for striking and throwing.

Origin of knobkerrie

1
1835–45; <Afrikaans knopkierie, equivalent to knopknob + kierie, said to be <Khoikhoi kirri, keeri stick

Words Nearby knobkerrie

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use knobkerrie in a sentence

  • Confronting him was a big Zulu, equally muscular, and armed with a formidable knobkerrie and a small shield.

    A Frontier Mystery | Bertram Mitford
  • He was armed with nothing but a knobkerrie, with which he struck and parried with lightning-like rapidity.

    The Luck of Gerard Ridgeley | Bertram Mitford
  • His left hand bore his assegais and knobkerrie beneath the great dappled ox-hide shield; and in his right a yellow walking-staff.

  • In the right hand he held his only weapon, a kind of short but deadly knobkerrie, while his left hand rested upon his naked knee.

  • They had been armed with muskets, and each carried a heavy knobkerrie.

British Dictionary definitions for knobkerrie

knobkerrie

knobstick (ˈnɒbˌstɪk)

/ (ˈnɒbˌkɛrɪ) /


noun
  1. a stick with a round knob at the end, used as a club or missile by South African tribesmen

Origin of knobkerrie

1
C19: from Afrikaans knopkierie, from knop knob, from Middle Dutch cnoppe + kierie stick, from Khoikhoi kīrri

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