baton
Americannoun
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Music. a wand used by a conductor.
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a rod of lightweight metal fitted with a weighted bulb at each end and carried and twirled by a drum major or majorette.
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Track. a hollow rod of wood, paper, or plastic that is passed during a race from one member of a relay team to the next in a prescribed area.
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a staff, club, or truncheon, especially one serving as a mark of office or authority.
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Heraldry.
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a diminutive of the bend sinister, couped at the extremities: used in England as a mark of bastardy.
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a similar diminutive of the ordinary bend.
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noun
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a thin stick used by the conductor of an orchestra, choir, etc, to indicate rhythm or expression
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a short stick carried for use as a weapon, as by a policeman; truncheon
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( as modifier )
a baton charge
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athletics a short bar carried by a competitor in a relay race and transferred to the next runner at the end of each stage
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a long stick with a knob on one end, carried, twirled, and thrown up and down by a drum major or drum majorette, esp at the head of a parade
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a staff or club carried by an official as a symbol of authority
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heraldry a single narrow diagonal line superimposed on all other charges, esp one curtailed at each end, signifying a bastard line
Etymology
Origin of baton
1540–50; < Middle French bâton, Old French baston < Vulgar Latin *bastōn- (stem of *bastō ) stick, club; compare Late Latin bastum staff
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A busy guest baton with companies around the globe, she will make her L.A.
From Los Angeles Times
That can happen only because the baton is passing to a broader array of stocks.
From Barron's
The grand marshal of the festival, Butler, who lost his longtime home in Altadena in last year’s Eaton fire, embodies the event’s theme of passing the baton to the next generation.
From Los Angeles Times
This year, the baton is being handed to a vegetable: the leafy and cruciferous cabbage.
From Salon
Attorney Mark Geragos, who represented Tipping’s father, accused the department of a cover-up by failing to turn over key evidence, such as a training baton used during the scenario.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
