Cudgel vs. Bludgeon: What's the Difference?
Cudgel and Bludgeon Definitions
Cudgel
A short heavy stick; a club.
Bludgeon
A short heavy club, usually of wood, that is thicker or loaded at one end.
Cudgel
To beat or strike with or as if with a cudgel.
Bludgeon
To hit with a heavy club or similar blunt instrument.
Cudgel
A short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon.
The guard hefted his cudgel menacingly and looked at the inmates.
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Bludgeon
To strike with strong force
"The fields were often baked by the sun and bludgeoned by savage thunderstorms" (Linda Hasselstrom).
Cudgel
(figurative) Anything that can be used as a threat to force one's will on another.
Bludgeon
To overcome, often by intimidation or coercion.
Cudgel
To strike with a cudgel.
The officer was violently cudgeled down in the midst of the rioters.
Bludgeon
A short, heavy club, often of wood, which is thicker or loaded at one end.
We smashed the radio with a steel bludgeon.
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Cudgel
To exercise (one's wits or brains).
Bludgeon
(transitive) To strike or hit with something hard, usually on the head; to club.
The apprehended rioter was bludgeoned to death.
Cudgel
A staff used in cudgel play, shorter than the quarterstaff, and wielded with one hand; hence, any heavy stick used as a weapon.
He getteth him a grievous crabtree cudgel and . . . falls to rating of them as if they were dogs.
Bludgeon
(transitive) To coerce someone, as if with a bludgeon.
Their favorite method was bludgeoning us with the same old arguments in favor of their opinions.
Cudgel
To beat with a cudgel.
An he here, I would cudgel him like a dog.
Bludgeon
A short stick, with one end loaded, or thicker and heavier that the other, used as an offensive weapon.
Cudgel
A club that is used as a weapon
Bludgeon
A club used as a weapon
Cudgel
Strike with a cudgel
Bludgeon
Overcome or coerce as if by using a heavy club;
The teacher bludgeoned the students into learning the math formulas
Bludgeon
Strike with a club or a bludgeon
