mace
noun
[ meɪs ]
• a staff of office, especially that which lies on the table in the House of Commons when the Speaker is in the chair, regarded as a symbol of the authority of the House.
• a heavy club with a spiked metal head.
Similar:
staff,
club,
cudgel,
stick,
shillelagh,
bludgeon,
blackjack,
truncheon,
cosh,
life preserver,
Origin:
Middle English: from Old French masse ‘large hammer’.
mace
noun
• the reddish fleshy outer covering of the nutmeg, dried as a spice.
Origin:
Middle English macis (taken as plural), via Old French from Latin macir .
Mace
noun
• an irritant chemical used in an aerosol to disable attackers.
Mace
verb
• spray (someone) with Mace.
• "three individuals were Maced by an unknown male"
Origin:
1960s (originally US): probably from mace1.
