| 释义 |
ˈquarterstaff
1. A stout pole, from six to eight feet long and tipped with iron, formerly used as a weapon by the English peasantry.
The exact sense of quarter is not clear: quot. 1589 suggests that the staff may have been made from a tree of a certain size cleft in four; cf. quarter-cleft B. 1.
a1550Play of Robin Hood 7 in Child Ballads III. 127 With a stout frere I met, And a quarter-staffe in his hande. 1589R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1860) 3 Plodding through Aldersgate, all armed as I was, with a quarter Ashe staffe on my shoulder. c1626Dick of Devon iv. iii. in Bullen Old Pl. II. 81 My owne Country weapon. What? A Quarter staffe. 1700Dryden Cymon & Iph. 82 His quarter-staff..Hung half before and half behind his back. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 121 A cane about eight foot long and an inch and a half in diameter much like a quarter⁓staff. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxv, Their rude drivers..began to debate precedence with their waggon-whips and quarter⁓staves. 1887Besant The World went xv. 128 [He] took the quarterstaff,..poised it in his hands, and turned a smiling face to his adversary.
attrib.1890Daily News 19 June 6/4 Dumb-bell and quarter-staff drill.
2. Fighting or exercise with the quarterstaff.
1712Arbuthnot John Bull i. ii, He had acquir'd immense Riches, which he used to squander away at Back-Sword, Quarter-Staff, and Cudgell-Play. 1775Sheridan Rivals iv. i, If you wanted a bout at boxing, quarter staff, or short⁓staff. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 252 He..wrestled, played at quarterstaff, and won footraces.
Hence ˈquarterstaff v., to beat with a quarterstaff.
1709Steele Tatler No. 31 ⁋5, 400 Senators..thought it an Honour to be cudgelled and quarterstaffed. |