baton

noun
/ˈbætɒn/UK/bəˈtɑn/US

Etymology

From French bâton. Doublet of baston.

  1. borrowed from bâton

Definitions

  1. A staff or truncheon, used for various purposes.

  2. A ceremonial staff of a field marshal or a similar high-ranking military office.

  3. The stick of a conductor in musical performances.

    • The conductor raised his baton and the orchestra fell silent.
  4. + 8 more definitions
    1. An object transferred by runners in a relay race.

      • In the relay race, the runner dropped the baton.
    2. A rod twirled in a marching band's performance, in a gymnastic sport, or in juggling.

    3. A short stout club used primarily by policemen.

      • The police officer carried a baton for self-defense.
    4. A bend with the ends cut off, resembling a baton, typically borne sinister, and often…

      A bend with the ends cut off, resembling a baton, typically borne sinister, and often used as a mark of cadency, initially for both legitimate and illegitimate children, but later chiefly for illegitimate children.

      • Alternative forms: batune, baston
    5. A short vertical lightweight post, not set into the ground, used to separate wires in a…

      A short vertical lightweight post, not set into the ground, used to separate wires in a fence.

    6. A batonnet, a long slice of a vegetable, thicker than a julienne.

    7. A short baguette.

    8. To strike with a baton.

      • She passed the baton to her successor after retiring.
      • accept/refuse/receive the baton

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at baton. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01baton02military03force04dyne05accelerate06motion07puppet08rods09rod10stick

A definitional loop anchored at baton. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at baton

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA