joust

American  

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

noun

• jousts
  plural

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.

---

verb (used without object)

• jousts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• jousted,
  past participle,  past
• jousting
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

• jouster
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• jousts
  plural

Participles

• jousting
  present
• jousted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• joust
  simple
• jousts
  simple
• have jousted
  perfect
• has jousted
  perfect
• am jousting
  progressive
• are jousting
  progressive
• is jousting
  progressive
• have been jousting
  perfect progressive
• has been jousting
  perfect progressive

Past

• jousted
  simple
• had jousted
  perfect
• was jousting
  progressive
• were jousting
  progressive
• had been jousting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will joust
  simple
• will have jousted
  perfect
• will be jousting
  progressive
• will have been jousting
  perfect progressive

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

Explanation

To joust is to fight against someone, usually using lances, on horseback. Such a contest is called a joust. If you've ever seen a movie or TV show about medieval times, you might have seen two knights jousting. This is a sport that takes place on horseback and involves lances, which are long like spears. The knights charge each other and try to hit each other with the lances and knock each other off the horse. This type of contest — which usually involves a tournament — is called a joust. Jousting is as old as the Middle Ages.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

joust jousts jousted jousting

Many MPs believe that Badenoch has for some months now been an impressive combatant at Prime Minister's Questions, her weekly joust with the prime minister.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

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

From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2026

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 ● May 21, 2025

Competitors were expected to joust one another on a thin, elevated platform that fell out underneath them.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2023

“You never know what will happen in a joust like this.”

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Perhaps they’ll even find more cosmic jousts — enough to make a whole tournament!

From Space Scoop ● May 21, 2025

History shows they’ve acted as statesmen in times of crisis before and temporarily paused their jousts on social media and in the courts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2025

Thirteen years on from his untimely death, the influence of the continent's most charismatic star is enduringly felt when Europe take on the USA in their biennial jousts.

From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2025

Netflix, which once said it competed only with sleep for the attention of its subscribers, now jousts with a horde of streaming companies.

From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2023

The true tension at court— which was apparent to everybody except Lancelot, who was too innocent to be conscious of such things—began to show itself dearly at the Westminster jousts.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

The White House has jousted with Beijing on trade but reached a broad truce with China after a major escalation last spring.

From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026

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

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2025

Medieval English knights donned armor, mounted highly trained horses, and jousted with long lances in spectacular ritual combats.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 21, 2024

Tesla and plaintiff attorneys jousted in the run-up about what evidence and arguments each side could make.

From Reuters ● Sep. 28, 2023

Malcolm X’s growing respect for individual whites seemed to be reserved for those who ignored on a personal basis the things he said about whites and who jousted with him as a man.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

And props are improvised so that pool noodles are used for jousting and an earbud case serves as an engagement ring.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

TV commercials showed construction workers jousting with FatMaxes, and Stanley sued copycat competitors for alleged patent infringement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026

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 ● Jan. 17, 2026

Plus, Martin challenged the show to “do the best jousting sequences that were ever done on film,” and showrunner Ira Parker said they made it happen, touting one particular jousting scene as “badass.”

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 31, 2025

The ‘magnificences’ she oversaw at the French court had many components, from jousting tournaments and firework displays to water fetes and mock battles.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall