tipstaff
Americannoun
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tipstaves,
plural
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tipstaffs
plural
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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.
-
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
Cavalcanti took a step forward, his face purple with anger that this tipstaff ruffian should take such a tone with him.
From The Strolling Saint; being the confessions of the high and mighty Agostino D'Anguissola, tyrant of Mondolfo and Lord of Carmina in the state of Piacenza by Rafael Sabatini
"The Judge wants you back at the Court, Mr. Blake," said the tipstaff.
From Outback Marriage, an : a story of Australian life by A. B. (Andrew Barton) Paterson
"Are you, then, a tipstaff, or a bailiff, or a turnkey?" demanded the gipsy, "that you should pursue me, as if the warrant were placed in your hands for execution!"
From The Gipsy (Vols I & II) A Tale by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James
One day when the young bride was at table with her husband, indulging herself in expressing the happiness which she enjoyed, a tipstaff entered, and delivered to her a paper.
From Paris as It Was and as It Is by Francis W. Blagdon
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 Francis W. Blagdon
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 F. Colburn (Francis Colburn) Adams
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 G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
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
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 Alice Morse Earle
Mr. Caryll, with no more thought for the tipstaves than he had for the smoke in his eyes or the stench of powder in his nostrils, sped to Sir Richard.
From The Lion's Skin by Rafael Sabatini
After all," said he, "it is none of our business to play the tipstaves for M. de La Tour d'Azyr.
From Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
A surging, seething crowd! heads upon heads in a dense, compact mass—a double row of men, women, boys, and girls, held back with difficulty by the Serjeant-at-Arms and his men, armed with halberds and tipstaves!
From The Tangled Skein by Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy
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.
