targe1
/tɑːdʒ
/noun
Archaic term for target (sense 2 of the noun).Their blood up, the Jacobites, most of them armed with small round shields, known as targes, and double-edged broadswords, hurtled down the slope....
- As the claymores, targes and antique pistols on the walls of Seaforth Cottage also testify, domicile north of the Great Glen can also engender a degree of swashbuckling.
- Some targes had center bosses of brass, and a few of these could accept a long steel spike which screwed into a small ‘puddle’ of lead which was fixed to the wood, under the boss.
Origin
Old English targa, targe, of Germanic origin; reinforced in Middle English by Old French targe.
targe2
/tɑːdʒ/noun Scottish & Northern Irish informal
A formidably aggressive older woman: she was an old targe of a schoolteacher...
- I'm going to look forward to being a targe in my old age.
- For all her doughty declarations, there's the odd hint of vanity and vulnerability in this targe.
- We want more of Roy and his targe of a mother.
Origin
Late 19th century: from the verb targe 'to reprimand, scold, beat', of uncertain origin.