View synonyms for shillelagh

shillelagh

or shil·la·la, shil·la·lah, shil·le·lah

[ shuh-ley-lee, -luh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

shillelagh

/ -lɪ; ʃɪˈleːlə; ʃəˈleɪlə /

First recorded in 1670–80; from Irish Síol Éalaigh, the name of a town in County Wicklow; the adjoining forest provided wood for the clubs

C18: from Irish Gaelic sail cudgel + éille leash, thong

Saying which, he flourished his shillelagh before the slipper merchant's face, and then gave him a smart tap on his head.

The shillelagh was not a mere stick picked up for a few pence, or cut casually out of the common hedge.

The shillelagh was then a beautiful, tough, formidable weapon, and when tipped with an iron ferrule was quite ready for action.

They wove no mild sort of halo for the head of a shillelagh-flourishing Whitechapel Countess descended from the writer and doer.

His bludgeon, or—considering his present connection—may we say his shillelagh?

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