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verb / noun

bludgeon

BLUJ-un/ˈblʌdʒən/

To strike with a heavy club.

The woman strikes the training dummy with a heavy bludgeon.

A woman delivers a forceful two-handed club blow to a battered training dummy; several separate deep dents and split padded seams make repeated heavy impacts visible.
Etymology

The verb comes from the noun meaning a short, heavy club, whose origin is unknown. Hitting with that weapon supplies the image behind the broader sense of striking repeatedly with heavy force.

In context

The Rest Is History56:09
his officers take out their clubs and they bludgeon him to death. >> So that's the end of him
The Biggest Ever Gold Heist | Fall of the Incas EP 4

More examples

  • The gang bludgeoned the locked door until it splintered.
  • She refused to be bludgeoned into signing.
  • A crude bludgeon lay beside the broken gate.

Forms

bludgeon · bludgeons · bludgeoned · bludgeoning

Similar words

club
Club is the general weapon term; bludgeon suggests a short, heavy striking weapon.
cudgel
A cudgel is also a stout club; bludgeon particularly evokes brutal force.