Word.ws English Dictionary

taking up the cudgels

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

Meaning of take up the cudgels

Verb

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

  1. To engage in a contest.
  2. (idiomatic) to make a defence for someone or something; to intercede supportively.

Questions about taking up the cudgels

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

Words near taking up the cudgels in the dictionary

  1. taking up arms
  2. taking up cudgels
  3. taking up for
  4. taking up residence
  5. taking up the cudgel for
  6. taking up the cudgels
  7. taking up the gantlet
  8. taking up the gauntlet
  9. taking up the hatchet
  10. taking up the mantle
  11. taking up the slack

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking up the cudgels (page history and authors); take up the 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.

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