battledore

1. (obsolete) A child's hornbook for learning the alphabet.Examples: "You will also pardon the errors of the Work, for you know I was not bred to letters; but, that the battledore, at an age not exceeding six, was the last book I used at school."obsolete

2. (historical) A wooden paddle-shaped bat or beetle used to wash clothes by beating, stirring, or smoothing them.Examples: "There is a large basin near the fountain, where numbers of women may be seen every day, kneeling at the edge of the water, and beating the clothes with heavy pieces of wood in the shape of battledores."; "The laundry process of the time [1665] consisted of boiling textiles with lye or soap and then beating them with a battledore, a rustic version of a cricket bat."historical