Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A long wooden staff formerly used as a weapon.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An old English weapon formed of a stout pole about 6½ feet long. It was grasped by one hand in the middle, and by the other between the middle and the end. In the attack the latter hand shifted from one quarter of the staff to the other, giving the weapon a rapid circular motion, which brought the ends on the adversary at unexpected points.
Wiktionary
- n. A wooden staff of an approximate length between 2 and 2.5 meters, sometimes tipped with iron, used as a weapon in rural England during the Early Modern period.
- n. Fighting or exercise with the quarterstaff.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A long and stout staff formerly used as a weapon of defense and offense; -- so called because in holding it one hand was placed in the middle, and the other between the middle and the end.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a long stout staff used as a weapon
Etymologies
- quarter + staff, from ca. 1550. Probably originally refers to a staff cut from the hardwood of a certain size of tree which was cleft in four parts, as per OED. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“A quarterstaff was a dynamic weapon; it didn't have a point or edge to do the wielder's work for him.”
“The classic “Rabbit of Seville” has a clip, as does “Robin Hood Daffy” (with the immortal quarterstaff sequence).”
“Combine it with white robes and shining armour for a paladin-type, for instance, or black leather armour and a quarterstaff for a battlemonk.”
“It was a length of wood like a quarterstaff, dull red in color.”
“So a medium quarterstaff does more damage (1d8) than a medium handaxe (1d6).”
“But a huge quarterstaff does the same damage as a huge handaxe (1d10).”
“At the door, a man dressed all in grey, wearing a short sword and holding a quarterstaff, stopped them and looked them up and down.”
“The man slammed the staff onto the counter with all his strength—and no one had more strength with a quarterstaff than a poleman.”
“He loosened his grip on his quarterstaff, leaning on it now instead of holding it ready to strike.”
“He loved the rough exercises of wrestling, boxing, leaping, and quarterstaff, and frequented, when he could obtain leisure, the bull-baitings and foot-ball matches, by which the burgh was sometimes enlivened.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘quarterstaff’.
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Formerly
Being a list of words with definitions containing the word "formerly."
formerly, armorer, link, plummet, brank, pall-mall, florin, quondam, erstwhile, imponderable, recant, ether and 32 more...
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Greek Fire
being items related to mediaeval warfare, arms and armaments.
caltrop, ballista, trebuchet, mangonel, petard, onager, petrary, hurlbat, francisca, crossbow, longbow, flail and 97 more...
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KaeZoo's Words
flingers, unhinged, driven, flanked, arboreal, venerable, endearing, iconoclastic, fletcher, competent, fireproof, cavernous and 215 more...
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Ffine ffettle
Words ending in double F
bailiff, mastiff, pontiff, plaintiff, distaff, dandruff, biff, blastoff, brushoff, bluff, buff, caitiff and 51 more...
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Words I See Primarily in Books About ...
furze, peat, turnips, Michaelmas, Candlemas, hunter's moon, harvest moon, banish, rampart, lest, ordure, market day and 74 more...
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Palsters and Pateressas
The staff in its variety.
crummock, palster, pateressa, charn-curdle, churn-staff, bugle-rod, bang-beggar, arbrier, baston, mill-staff, taiaha, tide-indicator and 41 more...
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