Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

knobkerrie

[nob-ker-ee]
See more synonyms for knobkerrie on Thesaurus.com
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.
Show More

Origin of knobkerrie

1835–45; < Afrikaans knopkierie, equivalent to knop knob + kierie, said to be < Khoikhoi kirri, keeri stick
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for knobkerrie

Historical Examples

  • An assegai or knobkerrie would do the trick just as well, and make no noise about it.

    Forging the Blades

    Bertram Mitford

  • He was armed with nothing but a knobkerrie, with which he struck and parried with lightning-like rapidity.

  • Knobkerrie, nob′ker-i, n. a round-headed stick used as a club and a missile by the Kafirs.

  • His left hand bore his assegais and knobkerrie beneath the great dappled ox-hide shield; and in his right a yellow walking-staff.

British Dictionary definitions for knobkerrie

knobkerrie

knobstick (ˈnɒbˌstɪk)

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

Word Origin

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