What does "pommel" mean?

Pommel: A knob or ball; an object resembling a ball in form; as: (a) The knob on the hilt of a sword. Macaulay. (b) The knob or protuberant part of a saddlebow. (c) The top (of the head). Chaucer. (d) A knob forming the finial of a turret or pavilion.

Additional senses

  1. 2.To beat soundly, as with the pommel of a sword, or with something knoblike; hence, to beat with the fists. [Written also pummel.]

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