An old name for a mallet, the rendering of the Hebrew mephits (Proverbs 25:18), properly a war-club.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A heavy wooden hammer or beetle.

2. (v. t.) To beat and bruise with a heavy stick or cudgel; to wound in a coarse manner.

3. (v. t.) To injure greatly; to do much harm to.