badges

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of badge.

   Volunteers pinned their badges to their jackets before the event began.

   The museum sells enamel badges shaped like its most famous paintings.

   Note

   One spelling serves two words here: this noun plural and the verb form, as in a desk that badges visitors through. The plural covers every kind of badge: pinned emblems of rank or membership, name tags, access cards with a barcode or magnetic strip, and even the carved ornaments on a ship's stern. Only the old sense of a brand on a thief's hand has fallen out of use.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of badge.

   The front desk badges all contractors before granting them access to the site.

   The system automatically badges any employee who completes the safety course.

   Note

   The verb behind this form can take an object or do without one. With an object it means marking someone with a badge, or showing a badge to them: the desk badges each contractor. Without one it means getting into a restricted area by showing your own badge, as when an employee badges at the gate. The surrounding sentence, not the form, tells these uses apart.

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