Other forms: bludgeoned, bludgeoning, bludgeons
To bludgeon is to strike repeatedly with something heavy and blunt. Bludgeoned to death, bludgeon the lock, bludgeoning away.
It is a word for crime reports and for brute force generally. Figuratively, bludgeoning somebody with facts means overwhelming rather than persuading, and it is always a criticism of the method. As a noun a bludgeon is the club itself. Note that the origin of the word is uncertain.
1verbbludgeonTo strike repeatedly with something heavy and blunt.
“The robbers bludgeoned the guard with a heavy iron bar.”
bludgeon is a heavy striking.
Bludgeon appears in 1730 and its origin is uncertain, perhaps from a French word for a club.
Middle French
bougeon
English, today
bludgeon
Built from
From kw -. First attested in 1730. Origin uncertain, perhaps of kw - origin (recorded as blogon c. 1450) or from Middle French bougeon, a diminutive of bouge (“club, stick”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA