virgal

English

Etymology

Latin virgālis or virga +‎ -al

Adjective

virgal

  1. (rare, possibly obsolete) Made of twigs or rods.
    • 1732, Henry Fielding, The Complete Works of Henry Fielding, page 115:
      [...] lift the virgal rod, / That hangman you so narrowly escaped!
    • 1882, George Augustus Sala, America Revisited: From the Bay of New York to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Lake Michigan to the Pacific, page 37:
      The terrible "Croquemitaine" and his frightful spouse flourish their virgal sceptres to the terror of insubordinate juveniles - French juveniles be it understood; young America would laugh "Croquemitaine" and all his following to scorn.
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