BLUDGEON

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bludgeon mean? 

• BLUDGEON (noun)
  The noun BLUDGEON has 1 sense:

1. a club used as a weapon

  Familiarity information: BLUDGEON used as a noun is very rare.

• BLUDGEON (verb)
  The verb BLUDGEON has 2 senses:

1. overcome or coerce as if by using a heavy club

2. strike with a club or a bludgeon

  Familiarity information: BLUDGEON used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BLUDGEON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A club used as a weapon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bludgeon" is a kind of...):

club (stout stick that is larger at one end)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bludgeon"):

blackjack; cosh; sap (a piece of metal covered by leather with a flexible handle; used for hitting people)

Derivation:

bludgeon (strike with a club or a bludgeon)

bludgeon (overcome or coerce as if by using a heavy club)

• BLUDGEON (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bludgeon    ... he / she / it bludgeons   
Past simple: bludgeoned   
Past participle: bludgeoned   
-ing form: bludgeoning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Overcome or coerce as if by using a heavy club

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

The teacher bludgeoned the students into learning the math formulas

Hypernyms (to "bludgeon" is one way to...):

coerce; force; hale; pressure; squeeze (to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody into V-ing something

Derivation:

bludgeon (a club used as a weapon)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Strike with a club or a bludgeon

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bludgeon; club

Hypernyms (to "bludgeon" is one way to...):

hit (deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The fighter managed to bludgeon his opponent

Derivation:

bludgeon (a club used as a weapon)

bludgeoner (an assailant who uses a bludgeon)

 Context examples 

Never before had I understood that deep-seated fear and wholesome respect which many centuries of bludgeoning at the hands of the law had beaten into the fierce and turbulent natives of these islands.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now I have come round to you, and on my way I was attacked by a rough with a bludgeon.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have said that he is the worst man in London, and I would ask you how could one compare the ruffian, who in hot blood bludgeons his mate, with this man, who methodically and at his leisure tortures the soul and wrings the nerves in order to add to his already swollen money-bags?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He began by drawing a most formidable-looking bludgeon loaded with lead from his pocket, and switching it backward and forward several times, as if to test its weight and strength.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Draw it at once, or your man will get hurt, said Jackson, and we saw that as the undaunted smith stood up to Wilson for another round, a dozen rough fellows were clustering round him with bludgeons.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Along the white surface of the dusty highway there was drawn a long smear of crimson, while beside this ominous stain there lay a murderous little pocket-bludgeon, such as Warr had described in the morning.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)