tipstaff
(redirected from tipstaffs)Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia.
Related to tipstaffs: tipstaves
tipstaff
a court official having miscellaneous duties, mostly concerned with the maintenance of order in court, or, as in Ireland, looking after the judge's requirements in the course of the day.Collins Dictionary of Law © W.J. Stewart, 2006
TIPSTAFF. An officer appointed by the marshal of the court of king's bench,
to attend upon the judges with a kind of a rod or staff tipped with silver.
2. In the United States, the courts sometimes appoint an officer who is
known by this name, whose duty it is to wait on the court and serve its
process.
A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.