pestle

noun

1. A club-shaped, round-headed stick used in a mortar to pound, crush, rub or grind things.

   “She then sat down by the fire, and carefully separated the stone from the pulp, which she burnt; and her next task was to extract the kernel, which she did by means of a heavy pestle and the hearth. The kernels were next crushed together, and placed to simmer over the furnace.”

2. (archaic)A constable's or bailiff's staff; so called from its shape.

   “[…]whether the chopping-knife or their pestles were the better weapons”

3. The leg and leg bone of an animal, especially of a pig.

   “a pestle of pork”

verb

1. (transitive)To pound, crush, rub or grind, as in a mortar with a pestle.

   “‘Next time, boy, that you use that mortar for garlic, I will personally knock out your brain, place it in the said mortar, pestle it to a fine paste and give it to Dick Purser for feeding the dogs.’”