Present participle (American spelling); striking or beating repeatedly with a cudgel.
American English present participle of 'becudgel,' formed with '-ing' to show ongoing action. The British spelling is 'becudgelling' with doubled 'l'.
When English speakers add '-ing' to short verbs with single syllables and single vowels, Americans don't double the final consonant (so 'becudgeling'), but British English does double it (so 'becudgelling'), which shows how two versions of English diverged in systematic, rule-based ways.
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