pikestaff

1 9.9

A long wooden pole like a spear used by soldiers in war

noun
/ˈpaɪkˌstæf/

Archaic

: pica

During the reenactment, the actor demonstrated how to handle a pikestaff from medieval times.

Examples

-"Pikestaff"? -Yes.

Quills (2000)
Not to mention the endless repetition of words like. . . . . . "nipple" and "pikestaff.

Quills (2000)
Cross me again and I'll have your head on a pikestaff.

Fiction book (1992)
You'd be hunted down within the hour and your head put on a pikestaff.

Fiction book (1992)
They were not wielding harquebuses or pikestaffs but carried instead barrows and baskets, scutches, saws, and sacks of every shape.

Fiction book (1992)
The soldier raised his pikestaff high above his head as a signal to advance.
In the museum, we saw a large collection of weapons, including a polished pikestaff on display.

Synonyms

spear

vspikestaff

123 1.2

A long pole with a sharp point used for hunting or fishing

is the specific wooden shaft of such long pointed weapons

pike

vspikestaff

Archaic

7 9.3

A long spear with a sharp metal point used by soldiers long ago

is only the wooden shaft part of that long weapon

Surface Forms

pikestaff singular

pikestaffs plural

Morphology

pikestaff = pike + staff (transparent) = pike + staff

Meaning is directly the compound of 'pike' and 'staff'—the staff/shaft belonging to a pike—so a learner knowing both components can infer the sense.

Etymology

Pikestaff is made from pike 'a long spear' and staff 'a long stick', so it originally meant the long wooden pole used with a pike. That's why a pikestaff means the wooden shaft of a pike, the spear used in old battles.