pikestaff

[ pahyk-staf, -stahf ]

/ ˈpaɪkˌstæf, -ˌstɑf /

the shaft of an infantry pike.

a foot traveler's staff with a metal point or spike at the lower end.

Origin of pikestaff

First recorded in 1325–75, pikestaff is from the Middle English word pykstaf. See pike⁵, staff¹

pikelet, pikeman, pikeperch, piker, pikes peak, pikestaff, pikesville, pikey, piking, pil., pilaf

The case is as plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer it becomes.

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes |A. Conan Doyle
He sent him to Sheffield after you; that is plainer than a pikestaff.

Dariel |R. D. Blackmore
They are as plain as a pikestaff—only any man can be bamboozled by the silliest of them.

The Career of Katherine Bush |Elinor Glyn
By his side Hogben, the gatewarden, had much ado to hold his pikestaff across his horse's crupper in the thick of the people.

Privy Seal |Ford Madox Ford

Why, you are as plain as a pikestaff, and as free-spoken as if you had no secrets in the world.

The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 1, July 1843 |Various

pikestaff

/ (ˈpaɪkˌstɑːf) /

the wooden handle of a pike