baton
• noun 1 a thin stick used to conduct an orchestra or choir. 2 a short stick passed from runner to runner in a relay race. 3 a stick carried and twirled by a drum major. 4 a police officer’s truncheon. 5 a staff of office or authority. — PHRASES pass (or take up) the baton hand over (or take up) a duty or responsibility. — ORIGIN French, from Latin bastum ‘stick’.
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