Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Cudgel \Cudg"el\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cudgeled} or {Cudgelled}
   (-?ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {Cudgeling} or {cudgelling}.]
   To beat with a cudgel.

         An he here, I would cudgel him like a dog. --Shak.

   {To cudgel one's brains}, to exercise one's wits.