quarter-staff

Noun

quarterstaff (plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves)

1. A wooden staff with 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.
   • Name my accuſer ſaith he, or I defye thee Kemp at the quart ſtaffe.1600, William Kempe, Kemps nine daies vvonder
2. Fighting or exercise with a wooden staff of this sort.
   • He was very adept at quarterstaff.