quarterstaff
Americannoun
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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.
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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
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the use of such a staff in fighting, sport, or exercise
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.
On NBC, an American Gladiator is a beefcake model in a unitard swinging his padded quarterstaff.
From Time Magazine Archive
The only other handweapon capable of countering it is another quarterstaff.
From Black Man's Burden by Reynolds, Mack
Then the head shivered on a steel corselet, and Sim played quarterstaff with the shaft.
From The Moon Endureth: Tales and Fancies by Buchan, John
They spotted a ruckus and could see Elmer Allen in the middle of it, his quarterstaff flailing.
From Black Man's Burden by Reynolds, Mack
The quarterstaff prize was awarded to Long Hackett, one of John Forster's retainers.
From Both Sides the Border A Tale of Hotspur and Glendower by Peacock, Ralph
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.
