cudgel

Meanings

Plural: cudgels

Noun

a club that is used as a weapon
A short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon.
Anything that can be used as a threat to force one's will on another.

Verb

strike with a cudgel
To strike with a cudgel.
To exercise (one's wits or brains) in an effort to force a memory or solution; to rack (one's mind).

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English kuggel, from Old English cyċġel (“a large stick, cudgel”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuggil, from Proto-Germanic *kuggilaz (“knobbed instrument”), derivative of Proto-Germanic *kuggǭ (“cog, swelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewgʰ- (“swelling, bow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”), equivalent to cog + -el (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Middle Dutch coghele (“stick with a rounded end”).

Synonyms

fustigate

Scrabble Score: 10

cudgel is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
cudgel is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
cudgel is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

cudgel is a valid Words With Friends word