BATON
What does "BATON" mean?
A short stick or rod, especially one a conductor uses to direct music or runners pass in a relay.
Meanings
- A thin stick a conductor uses to beat time and direct an orchestra or choir. She raised the baton, and the whole orchestra fell silent.
- The short tube or rod passed from runner to runner in a relay race. He dropped the baton on the final exchange and they lost the race.
- A police officer's club or truncheon. The officers carried batons but no firearms on the patrol.
- A staff twirled or thrown by a drum major or baton twirler. She tossed the baton high and caught it without breaking step.
- Responsibility or leadership handed from one person to the next. When the founder retired, she passed the baton to her deputy. figurative
Word origin
From French 'bâton', a stick or staff, from Late Latin 'bastum'; the same root gives English 'bastion' and the verb 'baste' in its older 'beat' sense.
Remember it
BATON sounds like 'beat on' - a conductor beats time, a runner beats on toward the next hand.
A little poem
One open palm, one closing fist - the race
is won not in the run but in the pass.
couplet
Wordplay
- Why did the conductor never lose an argument? She always had the last baton.
What it teaches
What you carry is only half the work; how cleanly you hand it on is the rest.
Quick facts
What does BATON mean?
A short stick or rod, especially one a conductor uses to direct music or runners pass in a relay.
Is BATON a valid word?
Yes — BATON is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is BATON?
BATON has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does BATON come from?
From French 'bâton', a stick or staff, from Late Latin 'bastum'; the same root gives English 'bastion' and the verb 'baste' in its older 'beat' sense.
What can BATON teach us?
What you carry is only half the work; how cleanly you hand it on is the rest.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.