pommel

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To beat; pummel.
2. n. The upper front part of a saddle; a saddlebow.
3. n. Either of the two rounded handles on top of a pommel horse.
4. n. A knob on the hilt of a sword or similar weapon.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A knob or ball, or anything of similar shape. Especially— The rounded termination of the handle or grip of a sword, dagger, martel-de-fer, or the like, serving to keep the hand from slipping, and for striking a heavy blow at an adversary who is too close for the sweep of the weapon. The pommel in medieval weapons was often highly ornamented, and was a favorite place for the armorial bearings of the owner. These bearings, when engraved at the point opposite the junction with the blade, were sometimes used in affixing the owner's seal. See cut under hilt.
2. n. The protuberant part of a saddle-bow.
3. n. The top (of the head).
4. n. A round knob on the frame of a chair.
5. n. A ballshaped ornament used as a finial to the conical or domeshaped roof of a turret, pavilion, etc.
6. n. In a ceremonial mace, the lower or butt end; in the case of a crowned mace, the end opposite the crown.
7. n. A piece of hard wood, grooved like a crimping-board, and attached to the hand by means of a strap, used in giving a granular appearance to leather and in making it supple.
8. n. The bat used in the game of nur-and-spell.
9. To beat as with a pommel or with something thick or bulky; beat, as with the fists; bruise.

Wiktionary

1. n. The upper front brow of a saddle.
2. n. Either of the rounded handles on a pommel horse.
3. n. The knob on the hilt of an edged weapon such as a sword.
4. v. transitive To pound or beat.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The knob on the hilt of a sword.
2. n. The knob or protuberant part of a saddlebow.
3. n. The top (of the head).
4. n. A knob forming the finial of a turret or pavilion.
5. v. To beat soundly, as with the pommel of a sword, or with something knoblike; hence, to beat with the fists.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an ornament in the shape of a ball on the hilt of a sword or dagger
2. n. handgrip formed by the raised front part of a saddle
3. n. a handgrip that a gymnast uses when performing exercises on a pommel horse
4. v. strike, usually with the fist