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:
In exchange, they would also have to badge in and out of their air-traffic facilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Ward, who lives with his wife Gill, first applied successfully for a blue badge three years ago and said the process had been relatively simple before.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Summit played up his corporate background by updating his old LinkedIn profile with a badge announcing he was “Open to Work.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
“The conduct in 2021 represents a serious betrayal of the badge, the oath to serve and protect, and the public’s trust,” the statement said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
But with a quick swipe of his right hand, Steve got his opponent’s badge.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
After his plight was raised on social media by his daughter, Ward said several people had been in touch to say they faced similar issues getting blue badges renewed.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
She said that after her employees’ federal badges expired last month, they were eventually reinstated until Oct.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Judge Timothy Kelly ruled the removal of press badges was likely done without constitutionally adequate due process.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
A self-described “workaholic,” Cook famously wakes up at 4 a.m. to read customer and employee emails, then hits the gym and badges into Apple Park when he’s not traveling for diplomatic meetings or supply-chain audits.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Dalton Conley refers to these less tangible badges of status as “positional goods.”
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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
Perry Cooper, media relations manager at Sea-Tac, said the number of badged employees at the airport went from 25,000 before the pandemic to around 17,500 mid-pandemic.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2021
I lie here because I wish to conceal my circumstances and myself, and not to arrive in a new world badged and ticketed as an utterly poverty-stricken man.
From Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
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
High-quality photos may encourage viewers to picture themselves living in a property, while the use of badging listings with terms like "Highlight" or "Just added" fuels the fear of missing out.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2024
“We can watch things like badging data, and it continues to go up for us,” says Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of modern work, who advises CEO Satya Nadella on hybrid work strategy.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
Indeed this flesh, O Mother, A beggar's gown, a client's badging, We find, which from thy hands we simply took, Nought dreaming of the after penury, In nescientness.
From New Poems by Francis Thompson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
