quarter-stave

A form of quarterstaff — A wooden staff with an approximate length between 2 and 2.5 meters, sometimes tipped with iron, used as a weapon in rural England during the Early Modern period.

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Meanings

nounquarter-stave (plural quarter-staves)

plural quarter-staves

  1. alternativeAlternative form of quarterstaff.

    Seizing a quarter-stave, he laid about him joyously.

    1965, Fawn M. Brody, The Devils Drives, published 1971, page 116

Origin

Back-formation from quarterstaves.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

quarter-stave. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quarter-stave

MLA

“quarter-stave.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quarter-stave. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quarter-stave,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quarter-stave.

Source: quarter-stave on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.