baton

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
baton/ˈbatɒn/

▶noun

• 1 a thin stick used by a conductor to direct an orchestra or choir.

  ■ a stick carried and twirled by a drum major.

• 2 a short stick passed from runner to runner in a relay race.

• 3 a police officer's truncheon.

• 4 a staff of office or authority.

  ■ (batons) one of the suits in some tarot packs, corresponding to wands in others.

• 5 Heraldry a narrow bend truncated at each end.

• 6 a short bar replacing some figures on the dial of a clock or watch.

– phrases
pass (or take up) the baton hand over (or take up) a duty or responsibility.

– origin C16: from Fr. bâton, earlier baston, from late L. bastum ‘stick’.