badge
Americannoun
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badges
plural
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a special or distinctive mark, token, or device worn as a sign of allegiance, membership, authority, achievement, etc..
a police badge;
a merit badge.
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any emblem, token, or distinctive mark.
He thinks rich people buy art mainly as a badge of their sophistication and success.
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a card bearing identifying information, as one's name, symbol or place of employment, or academic affiliation, and often worn pinned to one's clothing.
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Digital Technology. digital badge.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a distinguishing emblem or mark worn to signify membership, employment, achievement, etc
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any revealing feature or mark
Usage
What does badge mean? A badge is a small object or card used to identify oneself in an official way. Most commonly, badge refers to the small metal medallion worn or carried by police officers or other law enforcement members. They’re often shaped like shields or stars. Badge also commonly refers to the official identification card of a worker, especially one that’s pinned to their clothing or worn on a lanyard or cord around their neck. Such badges are often used for security purposes—having a badge allows a worker to enter the building or access certain parts of it. Example: You pull another stunt like that and I’ll have you turn in your badge, Officer Hotshot!
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of badge
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English baggys (plural); akin to Anglo-French bage “badge, emblem”; further origin unknown
Explanation
Police officers wear a badge — a shiny piece of metal that lets you know they're cops. Badges can also be metaphors — for example, a scar could considered be a badge of honor. Police officers are the best-known badge-wearers, but lots of employees — especially federal employees — have to wear some kind of badge to work. The badge lets other people know who you are and what you do. Other kinds of badges are not so official. If a football player broke his leg during a big game, the cast could be called a "badge of honor," because of his playing and his toughness. All badges let others know who you are and why you're important.
Vocabulary lists containing badge
"Glencoe Accounting: Real-World Applications & Connections," Vocabulary from Chapter 12
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English Language Development Texts, Unit 2
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Girl Scouts Lingo
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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.
See Examples For:
Some journalists cheekily celebrated their inclusion — just as, in the 1970s, U.S. journalists and others named on President Nixon’s “enemies list” viewed their presence as a badge of honor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
They follow teams from different countries or leagues not for the badge on the front, but because of the name on the back.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Here, to be chaotic and colorful is a badge of honor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
They now carry what’s called a “Symbol of Protest,” a badge featuring a charging ram’s head emerging from the front of a Hemi engine block.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Then he puts a finger to my moonstone badge and says, “By the power vested in me as a training agent, I promote you, Amari Peters, to Junior Agent.”
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
"Alongside artist profiles that self-disclose as AI Personas, we will also start applying badges to relevant profiles," the company said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Sorry, guys — can we have those badges back?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
“They’re hiding their faces. If they had their names on badges and they weren’t wearing masks, you might see less of this activity.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Meanwhile, athletes and Games staff continued the long standing tradition of collecting team pin badges, resulting in some impressive bling lanyards.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
“So they had badges? How did you know they were the Committee?”
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
It is, in all but name, Britain's first air-conditioning subsidy - but it is badged as a heat pump, and only worth a third of the £7,500 for a heating-only model.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Given the geopolitical terrain, North American buyers may see their first solid-state BEVs badged as Toyotas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
As for the "verified" dead, a few users have pointed out that some were badged anew without the consent of their estates or loved ones.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2023
Musk himself sneered at the concept in a tweet on Tuesday, describing the current division between the badged and unbadged as a “lords and peasants system.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 3, 2022
Looking forward I saw the badged cuff of a policeman upraised at a crossing, his back towards us.
From Traffics and Discoveries by Rudyard Kipling
Employees are still coffee badging, the practice of swiping into the office and sticking around long enough to have a cup of coffee before heading out to finish the workday at home or elsewhere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
PS: The Nightshade suffix refers to an exterior trim grade that bundles together the blacked-out grille, badging, 20-inch wheels, mirror caps, door handles, roof pillars and lower rear bumper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
A badging factory which was creating fake designer logos to fix on unbranded clothing has been raided by police.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2023
In August, he announced more than 1,100 schools were being awarded $47 million of that money for upgrades such as security cameras, automatic door locks, visitor badging systems and exterior lighting.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2022
The "badging" of beggars was a favourite scheme of Swift's for the better regulation of the many who infested the city of Dublin as tramps and idlers.
From The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D. - Volume 07 Historical and Political Tracts-Irish by Temple Scott
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.
