Word.ws English Dictionary

taking up cudgels

taking up cudgels is the present participle and gerund of take up cudgels.

Meaning of take up cudgels

Verb

take up cudgels (third-person singular simple present takes up cudgels, present participle taking up cudgels, simple past took up cudgels, past participle taken up cudgels)

  1. To begin vehemently supporting a cause.

Questions about taking up cudgels

What is taking up cudgels the present participle and gerund of?
Taking up cudgels is the present participle and gerund of take up cudgels.

Words near taking up cudgels in the dictionary

  1. taking under advisement
  2. taking underwing
  3. taking up
  4. taking up a collection
  5. taking up arms
  6. taking up cudgels
  7. taking up for
  8. taking up residence
  9. taking up the cudgel for
  10. taking up the cudgels
  11. taking up the gantlet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking up cudgels (page history and authors); take up cudgels (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “taking up cudgels.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taking_up_cudgels. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.