Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Baton \Bat"on\, n. [F. b[^a]ton. See {Baston}.]
   1. A staff or truncheon, used for various purposes; as, the
      baton of a field marshal; the baton of a conductor in
      musical performances.

            He held the baton of command.         --Prescott.

   2. (Her.) An ordinary with its ends cut off, borne sinister
      as a mark of bastardy, and containing one fourth in
      breadth of the bend sinister; -- called also {bastard
      bar}. See {Bend sinister}.

Source : WordNet®

baton
     n 1: a thin tapered rod used by a conductor to direct an
          orchestra
     2: an implement passed from runner to runner in a relay race