tipstaff

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noun

A ceremonial staff, with a metal tip, carried by a constable or bailiff etc as a sign of office

Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nountipstaff (plural tipstaffs or tipstaves)

plural tipstaffs · plural tipstaves

  1. A ceremonial staff, with a metal tip, carried by a constable or bailiff etc as a sign of office
  2. An officer, of a court etc. who carries such a staff

    Fire and furies, do a set of boozing tipstaves think to take the man who outwitted Jeffreys and slipped through Kirke's lambs?"

    1897, Stanley John Weyman, chapter XII, in Shrewsbury

Origin

From tip + staff.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

tipstaff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tipstaff

MLA

“tipstaff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tipstaff. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tipstaff,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tipstaff.

Source: tipstaff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.