pikestaff

as in spear
a weapon with a long straight handle and sharp head or blade pikestaffs were in use from the Middle Ages to the 18th century

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Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pikestaff If the garden was a desert, the house was as plain as pikestaff. Town & Country, 28 Apr. 2023 Their weapon of choice was the pikestaff, a long staff topped with a sharp spike. Kristy Totten, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 June 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pikestaff
Noun
  • This is not so in Poland, where the government of former EU Council President and current prime minister, Donald Tusk, looks not for tools but for weapons — spears to throw at its friends abroad and knives to jab at its critics at home.
    Matt Boyse, National Review, 7 Jan. 2025
  • The same steps where, four years earlier, Trump flags were waved above the frenzied crowd and wielded like spears; where an officer was dragged facedown to be beaten with an American flag on a pole and another was pulled into the scrum to be kicked and stomped.
    Dan Barry, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Instead, General Livius duels Commodus with javelins for the fate of Rome in a makeshift arena made of centurion shields.
    James Grebey, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
  • Exceptions from that are pole vault and javelin because athletes are moving with so much force that the spike needs to penetrate the surface to avoid injury.
    Liam Tharme, The Athletic, 11 Aug. 2024
Noun
  • Among the artifacts found at the site were 119 lances and spears, eight swords, five knives, three arrowheads, one axe, a bridle, fragments of a bugle, fragments of at least two oath rings and several bronze and iron objects that have not been identified yet, according to the press release.
    Ashlyn Messier, Fox News, 4 Dec. 2024
  • Eastwood put on his armor and galloped down a course on Tinkerbell, hitting a practice target with a lance at Hemphill's property.
    Claire Osborn, Austin American-Statesman, 12 Mar. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near pikestaff

Cite this Entry

“Pikestaff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pikestaff. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

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