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Definition of pommel - 5 dictionary results
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pom⋅mel

  [puhm-uhl, pom-] noun, verb, -meled, -mel⋅ing or (especially British) -melled, -mel⋅ling.
Use pommel in a Sentence
–noun
1. a knob, as on the hilt of a sword.
2. the protuberant part at the front and top of a saddle.
3. Architecture. a spherical ornament or finial.
4. Gymnastics. either of the two curved handles on the top surface of a side horse.
–verb (used with object)
5. to beat or strike with or as if with the fists or a pommel.
Also, pummel.

Origin:
1300–50; (n.) ME pomel < MF, deriv. of OF pom hilt of a sword < L pōmum fruit; see pome, -elle
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pum⋅mel

  [puhm-uhl]
–verb (used with object), -meled, -mel⋅ing or (especially British) -melled, -mel⋅ling.
to beat or thrash with or as if with the fists.
Also, pommel.

Origin:
1540–50; alter. of pommel
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pommel
pom·mel   (pŭm'əl, pŏm'-)   
tr.v.   pom·meled also pom·melled, pom·mel·ing also pom·mel·ling, pom·mels also pom·mels
To beat; pummel.
n.  

  1. The upper front part of a saddle; a saddlebow.

  2. Either of the two rounded handles on top of a pommel horse.

  3. A knob on the hilt of a sword or similar weapon.


[From Middle English pomel, a pommel, from Old French, diminutive of pom, ball, fruit, from Latin pōmum, fruit.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pummel 
1548, alteration of pommel (q.v.) in the verbal sense of "to beat repeatedly."

pommel 
c.1330, from O.Fr. pomel (12c.), "rounded knob," dim. of pom "hilt of a sword," from L.L. pomellum, dim. of L. pomum "apple," the connecting notion being "roundness." Sense of "front peak of a saddle" first recorded c.1450. In M.E. poetry it also sometimes meant a woman's breast.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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