catchpole

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkatʃpəʊl/

Etymology 1

(deprecated template usage) From Old French chacepol (“one who chases fowls”) (or a northern variant thereof).

Alternative forms

• catchpoll

Noun

catchpole (plural catchpoles)

1. (obsolete) A taxman, one who gathers taxes.
2. A sheriff’s officer, usually one who arrests debtors.

Translations

sheriff's officer

• Czech: dráb (cs) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: Gerichtsdiener (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Etymology 2

catch +‎ pole

Alternative forms

• catch-pole

Noun

catchpole (plural catchpoles)

1. (historical) An implement formerly used for seizing and securing a man who would otherwise be out of reach.
   • 1843, Henry Shaw, Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages, W Pickering 1843:

     The use of the catch-pole is said to have been to take horsemen in battle by the neck and drag them from their horses.

See also

• myrmidon

References

• “catchpole”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.