quarterstaff

plural quarterstaffs · plural quarterstaves · alternative quarter-staff · alternative quarter staff · alternative quarter-stave · alternative quarterstave

1. 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.

   Name my accuſer ſaith he, or I defye thee Kemp at the quart ſtaffe.

   1600, William Kempe, Kemps nine daies vvonder

   1 more example

   [F]ew country people there are who do not love to see two sturdy fellows thwack and belabour each other with quarter-staff, single-stick, or fists.

   1881, Walter Besant, James Rice, “How Kitty First Saw the Doctor”, in The Chaplain of the Fleet […], volume I, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, part I (Within the Rules), page 82

2. Fighting or exercise with a wooden staff of this sort.

   He was very adept at quarterstaff.

   1 more example

   First, several couples stood forth at quarterstaff, and so shrewd were they at the game, and so quickly did they give stroke and parry, that […]

   1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC