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Definition of "tipstaff" [tip•staff]

  • A staff with a metal tip, carried as a sign of office. (noun)
  • An officer, such as a bailiff or constable, who carries a tipstaff. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "tipstaff" in a sentence
  • "In some places a sheriff's officer is called a tipstaff, the name being derived from the custom of such officers bearing a"
  • "Especially if you put a metal spike on each end (see “tipstaff” in England, as carried by Medieval cops)."
  • "The usual forms having been gone through, the body of Samuel Pickwick was soon afterwards confided to the custody of the tipstaff, to be by him taken to the warden of the Fleet Prison, and there detained until the amount of the damages and costs in the action of Bardell against Pickwick was fully paid and satisfied."
Words like "tipstaff"