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plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves
A wooden staff of 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. quotations examples
Name my accuſer ſaith he, or I defye thee Kemp at the quart ſtaffe.
1600, William Kempe, Kemps nine daies vvonder
[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, […], part I (Within the Rules), page 82
Fighting or exercise with the quarterstaff. quotations examples
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 […]