cudgel

Everyday

1. A short thick stick used as a weapon; a club. tree →
2. (verb) To hit someone with a cudgel. tree →
3. (phrase) «Cudgel your brains» means think very hard to remember something. tree →
4. (phrase) «Take up the cudgels for someone» means defend them strongly in an argument. tree →

In the lessons

In The Wind in the Willows, Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad arm themselves with cudgels and pistols to win back Toad Hall from the weasels and stoats. In old stories, robbers and guards carry cudgels. Hitting people is violence; in stories it shows a fight or danger.

Examples

• Badger handed each friend a stout cudgel. tree →
• The robber waved a cudgel at the travellers. tree →
• Mole ran through the hall waving his cudgel. tree →
• I cudgelled my brains but could not remember her name. tree →
• She took up the cudgels for her little brother in the argument. tree →
• The guard carried a heavy cudgel. tree →
• How can I forget the blow with the cudgel? tree →

Note

UK spelling cudgelled, cudgelling; US cudgeled, cudgeling. Old-fashioned word. Similar: club, stick, truncheon.