as in cane
a heavy rigid stick used as a weapon or for punishment
a farmer armed with a cudgel drove us off his land
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as in to bludgeon
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cudgel
John Towfighi, CNN, 3 Mar. 2025
Similarly, Tesla could face comparable pressure in the future if Beijing wants to use Musk as a cudgel to influence policy in the Trump administration.
—Linggong Kong, The Conversation, 24 Feb. 2025
Timothy Ryback, TIME, 26 Apr. 2024
Before long, fairs had such attractions as cudgelling bouts, bearbaiting, and something called gouging.
—Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for cudgel
Noun
Tariffs are considered by many economists a political cudgel — sometimes used in a trade war — and not an efficient framework for international trade.
—John Towfighi, CNN, 3 Mar. 2025
Similarly, Tesla could face comparable pressure in the future if Beijing wants to use Musk as a cudgel to influence policy in the Trump administration.
—Linggong Kong, The Conversation, 24 Feb. 2025
Verb
Hitler exploited his 37% to gridlock legislative processes, to cudgel or crush the political opposition, and ultimately to undermine the country’s democratic structures.
—Timothy Ryback, TIME, 26 Apr. 2024
Before long, fairs had such attractions as cudgelling bouts, bearbaiting, and something called gouging.
—Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for cudgel
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cudgel
Noun
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Cut Stems Back Using your bypass pruners, cut live canes back to 12 inches tall.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
10 Apr. 2025
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Green, who is Black, regularly uses a cane to walk around the Capitol and has done so for years.—
Sarah Fortinsky,
The Hill,
12 Mar. 2025
Verb
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As part of his tightening grip on power, and his assault on 200-plus years of checks and balances, President Trump has bludgeoned some of the nation’s leading law firms into shameful submission, extracting hundreds of millions of dollars worth of free legal work for his pet causes.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2025
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Police said she had been bludgeoned, stabbed multiple times and stripped naked.—
Paul LaRosa,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The baton came back to him once Paramount Plus gave a green light to The Challenge: All Stars, and OGs like himself were given a second shot at glory.—
Andy Greene,
Rolling Stone,
16 Apr. 2025
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The baton passes, rather frenetically, to other standout friends, too.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Kerry Carpenter clouted a key home run for the Detroit Tigers and Cole Ragans has pitched two terrific games for the Kansas City Royals among younger players stepping up.—
Chuck Murr,
Forbes,
9 Oct. 2024
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Not since the former Yankee slugger clouted three home runs in a World Series game against the Dodgers in 1977 has Jackson done more with a pitch in the strike zone.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
22 June 2024
Verb
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The first was a retweet of a posting by Secretary of State Marco Rubio just hours after Zelensky was publicly assailed by Trump and his deputy JD Vance at a meeting in the White House at the end of February.—
Andrew Carey and Victoria Butenko,
CNN Money,
12 Apr. 2025
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No peace or strength One lie that Trump has chosen to assail Canada is that the country is a kingpin in the fentanyl trade that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year.—
Andreas Kluth,
The Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Plus, the first year of having a child brings so much change that some moms are tempted to chop their hair off to make things easier.—
Catharine Malzahn,
Glamour,
8 Apr. 2025
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Be sure to chop the lemon zest finely and remove any seeds that may fall out of the lemons when juicing.—
Kate Bradshaw,
Mercury News,
7 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Then with two outs, Amed Rosario smacked an RBI single.—
Steve Gorten,
Miami Herald,
13 Apr. 2025
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Once the screen comes, Dort smacked his inside leg into Hayes’ outside one.—
Fred Katz,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Right now, Trump and Congress could whack Medicaid and give Newsom a solid rationale for cutting way back on healthcare for undocumented Californians.—
George Skelton,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Mar. 2025
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Alas, the thick-headed goon that Vito sends to whack Frank in the lobby of his lux Manhattan apartment building (a swollen and unrecognizable Cosmo Jarvis as the aptly named Vincent Gigante) fails to follow through with a double-tap, and Frank survives with a scratch to the head.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
19 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cudgel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cudgel. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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