Hypertext Webster Gateway: "quarterstaff"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Quarterstaff \Quar"ter*staff`\, n.; pl. {Quarterstaves}.
A long and stout staff formerly used as a weapon of defense
and offense; -- so called because in holding it one hand was
placed in the middle, and the other between the middle and
the end.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
quarterstaff
n : a long stout staff used as a weapon
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