quarterstaff
Americannoun
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quarterstaves,
plural
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quarterstaffs
plural
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a former English weapon consisting of a stout pole 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 meters) long, tipped with iron.
-
exercise or fighting with this weapon.
noun
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a stout iron-tipped wooden staff about 6ft long, formerly used in England as a weapon
-
the use of such a staff in fighting, sport, or exercise
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of quarterstaff
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:
On NBC, an American Gladiator is a beefcake model in a unitard swinging his padded quarterstaff.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then Kasim, who was on duty, came up whirling a quarterstaff.
From The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore
In his right hand he carried a quarterstaff, which he used as a walking-stick.
From The Last of the Vikings by John Bowling
Besides, the bow, now it is unstrung, makes an excellent quarterstaff, a weapon with which I have practiced a great deal.
From By Right of Conquest Or, With Cortez in Mexico by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
"That man-at-arms must be a stalwart fellow, indeed," said one, "to kill three Welshmen with nought but a quarterstaff."
From Both Sides the Border A Tale of Hotspur and Glendower by Ralph Peacock
"You two cats been checked out on quarterstaffs?"
From Black Man's Burden by Mack Reynolds
"Using these quarterstaffs brings to mind some of the other supposedly innoxious devices used by police authorities in controlling unruly demonstrations," he said.
From Black Man's Burden by Mack Reynolds
Elmer and Kenny would be the other twosome, and, both armed with quarterstaffs would be troubleshooters.
From Black Man's Burden by Mack Reynolds
Perhaps the army of the U. S. really has something able to scatter a troop of teen-age Boy Scouts armed with quarterstaves.
From Time Magazine Archive
Two men ran past me and took Beorn, throwing up his sword with their quarterstaves, and it seemed to me that it was done over gently.
From Wulfric the Weapon Thane by Charles W. (Charles Watts) Whistler
The outlaws—for such they seemed—were roughly clad in gray homespun and Lincoln green, and armed with bows and quarterstaves.
From Cedric, the Forester by Bernard Gay Marshall
Behind the illustrious personages just described marched a troop of stalwart fellows, with white badges in their hats, quarterstaves, oaken cudgels, and links in their hands.
From Jack Sheppard A Romance by William Harrison Ainsworth
Not a night can I sleep for some horrid apparition or other; one while these myrmidons are measuring silks by their quarterstaves, another stuffing their greasy pouches with my lord high treasurer's jacobuses.
From The Commonwealth of Oceana by James Harrington
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.
