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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of truncheons
Hundreds of people crowded the runway to greet Ali, pushing against a cordon of soldiers armed with truncheons.
—
Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
For the Civil Rights Movement, Alabama troopers lifting truncheons to beat marchers crossing Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge.
—Susan Page, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025
Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
For the Civil Rights Movement, Alabama troopers lifting truncheons to beat marchers crossing Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge.
—Susan Page, USA Today, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for truncheons
Noun
-
According to those reports, during her arrest in December, she was beaten repeatedly with wooden sticks and batons and dragged across the ground by her hair, sustaining injuries that left open wounds on her head.—
Jomana Karadsheh,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
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Federal officers wielded batons and deployed flash-bang devices against the crowd.—
Jack Brook,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
They were pinched, prodded, cut, shocked, pierced with needles, struck with canes, and burned with acid.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
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Exceeding long canes can be shortened, but most are left as long as possible.—
Tom MacCubbin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
21 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Truncheons.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/truncheons. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
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