Definition

1. Noun:

   • A blunt weapon, typically a short, heavy stick or club, often made of metal or hard rubber and sometimes covered in leather. It is designed for striking and is often associated with criminal activity or, historically, with law enforcement.

2. Verb:

   • To hit someone, usually on the head, with a cosh or similar blunt instrument.

Usage and Examples

• Noun:
  • The robber threatened the cashier with a cosh.
  • Police found a leather-covered cosh in the suspect's car.
• Verb:
  • The victim was coshed from behind during the robbery.
  • He was accused of coshing a security guard to gain entry to the building.

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily used in British English and can have historical or dated connotations, often evoking imagery of mid-20th-century crime.
• "to be coshed": To be knocked unconscious or attacked with a cosh.
  • In the old detective novel, the butler was coshed in the library.

Variants and Related Words

• Blackjack: (noun) A small, leather-covered club with a weighted head; a synonym often used in American English.
• Bludgeon: (noun/verb) A thick stick used as a weapon; to beat violently. This is a more general term.
• Truncheon: (noun) A short, thick club carried by police officers, especially in British English.

Synonyms

• Club: A heavy stick used as a weapon.
• Cudgel: A short, thick stick used as a weapon.
• Billy club: (US) A police officer's club.

Phrasal Verbs / Related Phrases

• To cosh someone over the head: The typical construction describing the action of using a cosh.
  • The thief coshed him over the head and took his wallet.

Related Idioms

• While there are no common idioms centered solely on the word "cosh," it appears in descriptive phrases related to sudden, violent assault.
  • He was put out of action with a quick cosh to the back of the skull.

Noun

1. a piece of metal covered by leather with a flexible handle; used for hitting people

Verb

1. hit with a cosh, usually on the head