pistol-whippingn.
/ˈpɪstlˌwɪpɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpɪstlˌ(h)wɪpɪŋ/ Originally and chiefly U.S.
A blow given with the butt of a pistol; the action of striking a person with the butt of a pistol. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of striking with specific blunt weapon > [noun]
staving1487
clubbing1593
swaddling1621
rib-basting1659
bludgeon-work1813
coshing1898
pistol-whipping1928
1928 Port Arthur (Texas) News 21 June 1/4 The convicted woman pleaded self-defense, alleging that she received a pistol-whipping by Dan Horn before firing the fatal shots.
1939 Los Angeles Times 26 July i. 11/2 An ex-marine's attempt to give his bride of two months a ‘pistol-whipping’ last Wednesday night brought swift retaliation.
1959 J. Thompson Getaway v. 24 The banker lay sprawled on the floor, half-dead from Rudy's pistol-whipping.
1967 Observer 23 Apr. 5/3 The British Foreign Secretary had been subjected to ‘a pistol-whipping’..from Mr. Walt Rostow in the White House.
1970 K. Platt Pushbutton Butterfly (1971) xi. 132 I remembered the pistol-whipping..and brought my knee up to his face.
1989 Boston Globe (Nexis) 19 Mar. (Metro/Region section) 29 Two unidentified individuals were treated for lacerations and bruises, the result of pistol-whipping.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1928