singlestick

[ sing-guhl-stik ]

/ ˈsɪŋ gəlˌstɪk /

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noun

a short, heavy stick.

(formerly)

a wooden stick held in one hand, used instead of a sword in fencing.
fencing with such a stick.

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Origin of singlestick

First recorded in 1765–75; single + stick¹

Words nearby singlestick

single sideband transmission, single-space, single Spanish burton, single standard, single-step, singlestick, singlesticker, single-suiter, singlet, single tax, single thread

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use singlestick in a sentence

When this was finished he very often played a bout of singlestick, or underwent some other severe muscular exertion.
Byron|Richard Edgcumbe
I am fairly good at fence, and excellent as any at singlestick.
The Black Douglas|S. R. Crockett
It was, to use the term of the old-fashioned singlestick players, “first blood,” and the sight thereof had a disastrous effect.
Dead Man's Land|George Manville Fenn
Thou art a deft hand at quarterstaff and singlestick, though, and I doubt not that thy hands can guard thy head.
The Cornet of Horse|G. A. Henty

George Fairburn had ever been an adept at all school games, and had spent many a leisure hour at singlestick.
With Marlborough to Malplaquet|Herbert Strang and Richard Stead

British Dictionary definitions for singlestick

singlestick

/ (ˈsɪŋɡəlˌstɪk) /

noun

a wooden stick used instead of a sword for fencing

fencing with such a stick

any short heavy stick

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