tipstaff
Americannoun
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an attendant or crier in a court of law.
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a staff tipped with metal, formerly carried as a badge of office, as by a constable.
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any official who carried such a staff.
noun
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a court official having miscellaneous duties, mostly concerned with the maintenance of order in court
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a metal-tipped staff formerly used as a symbol of office
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tipstaff
1535–45; shortened form of earlier tipped staff; see tip 1, -ed 3, staff 1
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:
Preceded by his tipstaff wearing a black frock coat and carrying a white staff topped with an elaborate gold crown, in came the judge.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 19, 2017
Godefroy beat a rattling fusillade on the drum, grabbed up his bobbing tipstaff, led the way; and down we filed to the canoes.
From Heralds of Empire Being the Story of One Ramsay Stanhope, Lieutenant to Pierre Radisson in the Northern Fur Trade by Laut, Agnes C. (Agnes Christina)
He has become their most trusted tipstaff and detective.
From The Child Wife by Reid, Mayne
That is the signal when their privileges are invaded by tipstaff or bailiff; and at the blast of the horn they all swarm out to the rescue, as bees when their hive is disturbed.—Jump,
From The Fortunes of Nigel by Scott, Walter, Sir
“Then, sir,” said the tipstaff, “I must arrest you.”
From Curiosities of Impecuniosity by Somerville, H. G.
Standing around were about a dozen huge constables with long-pointed tipstaffs in their hands, while two others assisted in chaining and unchaining the prisoners.
From Manuel Pereira by Adams, F. Colburn (Francis Colburn)
Is a bench of beadles and tipstaffs, who intercept letters, or keep to themselves the knowledge they should communicate, the power that ruleth?
From Tales from the German Comprising specimens from the most celebrated authors by Various
Well, sir, if that is your humour, I have a brother who is one of the mayor's tipstaffs.
From A Jacobite Exile Being the Adventures of a Young Englishman in the Service of Charles the Twelfth of Sweden by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
In lieu of a cloak, lawyers, whether presidents, counsellors, attornies, or tipstaffs, wore their black gown.
From Paris as It Was and as It Is by Blagdon, Francis W.
Constance and the beaver positioned themselves behind these, tipstaves at the ready.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
They carried black staves six feet long, tipped with brass, and hence were called tipstaves.
From Home Life in Colonial Days by Earle, Alice Morse
After a short struggle, he was overpowered, and, on his refusing to walk, he was carried out of the House on the shoulders of the tipstaves and constables.
From The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald, G.C.B., Admiral of the Red, Rear-Admiral of the Fleet, Etc., Etc. Vol. I by Bourne, H. R. Fox (Henry Richard Fox)
The attorneys had their seats and their big tables, and the somewhat familiar respect of the tipstaves.
From Orley Farm by Trollope, Anthony
The clothed embodied justice that sits in Westminster Hall, with penalties, parchments, tipstaves, is very visible.
From Past and Present by Carlyle, Thomas
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.
