truncheon

[ truhn-chuhn ]
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noun
  1. the club carried by a police officer; billy.

  2. a staff representing an office or authority; baton.

  1. the shattered shaft of a spear.

  2. Obsolete. cudgel; bludgeon.

verb (used with object)
  1. Archaic. to beat with a club.

Origin of truncheon

1
1300–50; Middle English tronchon fragment <Middle French <Vulgar Latin *trunciōn-, stem of *trunciō literally, a lopping. See trunk, -ion

Words Nearby truncheon

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How to use truncheon in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for truncheon

truncheon

/ (ˈtrʌntʃən) /


noun
  1. mainly British a short thick club or cudgel carried by a policeman

  2. a baton of office: a marshal's truncheon

  1. archaic a short club or cudgel

  2. the shaft of a spear

verb
  1. (tr) to beat with a truncheon

Origin of truncheon

1
C16: from Old French tronchon stump, from Latin truncus trunk; see truncate

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012