[cud.gel] n [ME kuggel, fr. OE cycgel; perh. akin to MHG kugele ball] (bef. 12c): a short heavy club
[2]cudgel vt -geled or -gelled ; -gel.ing or -gel.ling (1596): to beat with or as if with a cudgel -- cudgel one's brains : to think hard (as for a solution to a problem)