knobkerrie

[nob-ker-ee]

noun

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

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 of knobkerrie

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.
The Luck of Gerard Ridgeley
Bertram Mitford
Knobkerrie, nob′ker-i, n. a round-headed stick used as a club and a missile by the Kafirs.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)
Various
His left hand bore his assegais and knobkerrie beneath the great dappled ox-hide shield; and in his right a yellow walking-staff.
The Story of Baden-Powell
Harold Begbie

British Dictionary definitions for knobkerrie

knobkerrie

knobstick (ˈnɒbˌstɪk)

noun

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

Word Origin for knobkerrie

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