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bludgeon

noun
/ˈblʌd͡ʒ.ən/UK/ˈblʊd͡ʒ.ən/

Etymology

First attested in 1730. Origin uncertain, perhaps of Cornish origin (recorded as blogon c. 1450) or from Middle French bougeon, a diminutive of bouge (“club, stick”).

  1. derived from bougeon

Definitions

  1. A short, heavy club, often of wood, which is thicker or loaded at one end.

    • We smashed the radio with a steel bludgeon.

  2. To strike or hit with something hard, usually on the head

    To strike or hit with something hard, usually on the head; to club.

    • The apprehended rioter was bludgeoned to death.
    • They didn't get shot to death in hold-ups, strangled to death in rapes, stabbed to death in saloons, bludgeoned to death with axes by parents or children or die summarily by some other act of God.

  3. To coerce someone, as if with a bludgeon.

    • Their favorite method was bludgeoning us with the same old arguments in favor of their opinions.
    • Gianna Parasini: You've never worked in the corporate world, have you, Commander? You can't bludgeon through bureaucracy. Shepard: I can bludgeon pretty hard.

The neighborhood

Derived

bludgeoner, unbludgeoned

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bludgeon. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA