truncheon
1 of 2noun
trun·cheon ˈtrən-chən 
1
a
: a police officer's billy club
b
: baton sense 2
c
obsolete : club, bludgeon
2
: a shattered spear or lance
truncheon
2 of 2verb
truncheoned; truncheoning; truncheons
transitive verb
archaic
: to beat with a truncheon
Synonyms
Noun
- bastinado
- bastinade
- bat
- baton
- billy
- billy club
- bludgeon
- cane
- club
- cudgel
- nightstick
- rod
- rung [Scottish]
- sap
- shillelagh
- shillalah
- staff
- waddy [Australian]
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun police officers kept their hands on their truncheons
Recent Examples on the Web
Christopher Buckley, Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2022 Not far from where those spokesmen congregate is another image, that of thousands of Afghans running a chaotic gantlet of dangers, including truncheon-wielding Taliban fighters, to make their way to the airport and escape the country. Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug. 2021 Visitors are asked to pick up a truncheon (a thick stick carried as a weapon by police officers) to learn what happened next. Amy Schwabe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2021 Visitors are asked to pick up a truncheon (a stick carried as a weapon by police officers) to learn what happened next. Amy Schwabe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 23 Apr. 2021 Student Sasha Vilks showed a reporter his legs and his back deeply bruised from truncheon blows, but told his weeping mother not to look. Yuras Karmanau, Star Tribune, 15 Aug. 2020 Some were hung on the wall and beaten with electrified truncheons. David Stavrou, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020 Some were hung on the wall and beaten with electrified truncheons. David Stavrou, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020 Some were hung on the wall and beaten with electrified truncheons. David Stavrou, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020 See More
Noun
The baton that Reagan passed to a new generation became a truncheon in Gingrich’s hands. Christopher Buckley, Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2022 Not far from where those spokesmen congregate is another image, that of thousands of Afghans running a chaotic gantlet of dangers, including truncheon-wielding Taliban fighters, to make their way to the airport and escape the country. Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug. 2021 Visitors are asked to pick up a truncheon (a thick stick carried as a weapon by police officers) to learn what happened next. Amy Schwabe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2021 Visitors are asked to pick up a truncheon (a stick carried as a weapon by police officers) to learn what happened next. Amy Schwabe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 23 Apr. 2021 Student Sasha Vilks showed a reporter his legs and his back deeply bruised from truncheon blows, but told his weeping mother not to look. Yuras Karmanau, Star Tribune, 15 Aug. 2020 Some were hung on the wall and beaten with electrified truncheons. David Stavrou, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020 Some were hung on the wall and beaten with electrified truncheons. David Stavrou, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020 Some were hung on the wall and beaten with electrified truncheons. David Stavrou, Harper's Magazine, 30 Mar. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English tronchoun, from Anglo-French trunchun, from Vulgar Latin *truncion-, *truncio, from Latin truncus trunk
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Verb
circa 1598, in the meaning defined above
truncheons
noun
as in batons
a heavy rigid stick used as a weapon or for punishment police officers kept their hands on their truncheons Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- batons
- canes
- nightsticks
- staves
- mallets
- cudgels
- bludgeons
- maces
- rods
- bats
- billies
- shillelaghs
- clubs
- staffs
- hammers
- billy clubs
- staves
- saps
- bastinadoes
- waddies
- rungs
- blackjacks
- bastinades
- shillalahs
- sledgehammers
- rattans
- birches
- mauls
- knobkerries
- beetles
- gavels
- hickories
- crooks
- switches
- crabsticks
- croziers
- crosiers
- walking sticks
- whangees
