joust
Americannoun
-
jousts
plural
-
a combat in which two knights on horseback attempted to unhorse each other with blunted lances.
-
this type of combat fought in a highly formalized manner as part of a tournament.
-
jousts, a tournament.
-
a personal competition or struggle.
verb (used without object)
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jousts,
present (3rd person singular)
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jousted,
past participle, past
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jousting
present participle
-
to contend in a joust or tournament.
-
to contend, compete, or struggle.
The candidates will joust in a television debate.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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joustsimple
-
joustssimple
-
have joustedperfect
-
has joustedperfect
-
am joustingprogressive
-
are joustingprogressive
-
is joustingprogressive
-
have been joustingperfect progressive
-
has been joustingperfect progressive
Past
-
joustedsimple
-
had joustedperfect
-
was joustingprogressive
-
were joustingprogressive
-
had been joustingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing joust
Medieval Europe - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
Pimblett responded by calling Ferguson a "sausage", before the pair continued to verbally joust.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2023
Competitors were expected to joust one another on a thin, elevated platform that fell out underneath them.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2023
“Meereen. You’ll ride your dog for the dragon queen and come away with your weight in gold. Best start eating more, so you’ll be nice and plump when you joust before Her Grace.”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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
Data protection has been a main focus for Beijing as China jousts with the United States for high-tech leadership.
From New York Times ● Jul. 10, 2021
She had her dog with her, the big grey hound she rode in the mock jousts.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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 runup 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
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
And there's been some verbal jousting in the preamble to Sunday.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 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
And like sword fights, jousting is never not entertaining.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 31, 2025
Lord Fredrick chuckled and played at jousting for a moment.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
