Club

Pronunciation

• enPR: klÅ­b, IPA: /klÊŒb/
• Rhymes: -ÊŒb

Origin

From Middle English clubbe, from Old Norse klubba, klumba ("cudgel"), from Proto-Germanic *klumpô ("clip, clasp; clump, lump; log, block"), from Proto-Indo-European *glemb-, *glembʰ- ("log, block"), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- ("to ball up, conglomerate, amass"). Cognate with English clump; and perhaps related to Middle Low German kolve ("bulb"), German Kolbe ("butt, bulb, club").

Noun

1. A heavy stick intended for use as a weapon or plaything

• 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 12, There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, â€¦, and all these articles â€¦ made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
1. An association of members joining together for some common purpose, especially sports or recreation.
2. (archaic) The fees associated with belonging to such a club.
• unknown date Benjamin Franklin:

• He can have no right to the benefits of Society, who will not pay his Club towards the Support of it.
1. A joint charge of expense, or any person's share of it; a contribution to a common fund.
• L'EstrangeThey laid down the club.
• Samuel PepysWe dined at a French house, but paid ten shillings for our part of the club.
2. An establishment that provides staged entertainment, often with food and drink, such as a nightclub.
   She was sitting in a jazz club, sipping wine and listening to a bass player's solo.
3. A black clover shape (♣), one of the four symbols used to mark the suits of playing cards.
4. A playing card marked with such a symbol.
   I've got only one club in my hand.
5. An implement to hit the ball in some ballgames, e.g. golf.
6. (humorous) Any set of people with a shared characteristic.
   You also hate Night Court? Join the club.
   Michael stood you up? Welcome to the club.

Synonyms

• cudgel wielded as a weapon

Derived terms

Full definition of club

Verb

1. (transitive) to hit with a club.He clubbed the poor dog.
2. (intransitive) To join together to form a group.
• DrydenTill grosser atoms, tumbling in the stream
  Of fancy, madly met, and clubbed into a dream.
3. (intransitive, transitive) To combine into a club-shaped mass.
4. (intransitive) To go to nightclubs.We went clubbing in Ibiza.
5. (intransitive) To pay an equal or proportionate share of a common charge or expense.
• Jonathan SwiftThe owl, the raven, and the bat
  Clubbed for a feather to his hat.
6. (transitive) To raise, or defray, by a proportional assessment.to club the expense
7. (nautical) To drift in a current with an anchor out.
8. (military) To throw, or allow to fall, into confusion.
• 1876, Major-General G. E. Voyle and Captain G. De Saint-Clair-Stevenson, F.R.G.S., A Military Dictionary, Comprising Terms, Scientific and Otherwise, Connected with the Science of War, Third Edition, To club a battalion implies a temporary inability in the commanding officer to restore any given body of men to their natural front in line or column.
9. (transitive) To unite, or contribute, for the accomplishment of a common end.to club exertions
10. (transitive, military) To turn the breech of (a musket) uppermost, so as to use it as a club.

Anagrams

• culb