badge

n. [ LL. bagea, bagia, sign, prob. of German origin; cf. AS. beág, beáh, bracelet, collar, crown, OS. bōg- in comp., AS. būgan to bow, bend, G. biegen. See Bow to bend. ] 1. A distinctive mark, token, sign, or cognizance, worn on the person; as, the badge of a society; the badge of a policeman. “Tax gatherers, recognized by their official badges.” Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Something characteristic; a mark; a token. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A carved ornament on the stern of a vessel, containing a window or the representation of one. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having no badge. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bageard, prob. fr. badge + -ard, in reference to the white mark on its forehead. See Badge, n. ] 1. A carnivorous quadruped of the genus Meles or of an allied genus. It is a burrowing animal, with short, thick legs, and long claws on the fore feet. One species (Meles meles or Meles vulgaris), called also brock, inhabits the north of Europe and Asia; another species (Taxidea taxus or Taxidea Americana or Taxidea Labradorica) inhabits the northern parts of North America. See Teledu. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A brush made of badgers' hair, used by artists. [ 1913 Webster ]

Badger dog. (Zool.) See Dachshund. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Of uncertain origin; perh. fr. an old verb badge to lay up provisions to sell again. ] An itinerant licensed dealer in commodities used for food; a hawker; a huckster; -- formerly applied especially to one who bought grain in one place and sold it in another. [ Now dialectic, Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Badgered p. pr. & vb. n. Badgering. ] [ For sense 1, see 2d Badger; for 2, see 1st Badger. ] 1. To tease or annoy, as a badger when baited; to worry or irritate persistently. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To beat down; to cheapen; to barter; to bargain. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who badgers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A kind of dog used in badger baiting. [ 1913 Webster ]

. The method of blackmailing by decoying a person into a compromising situation and extorting money by threats of exposure. [ Cant ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. The act of one who badgers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The practice of buying wheat and other kinds of food in one place and selling them in another for a profit. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]