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matraque

truncheon, baton

noun mah-TRAK Rare

Origin: from Arabic mitraq, 'hammer'

Usage Note

Matraque refers to a police baton or billy club. The derived verb matraquer means both 'to bludgeon' and figuratively 'to bombard' (e.g., matraquer le public de publicités — to bombard the public with ads). The figurative sense is very common in media criticism in French.

Examples

"Le policier tenait sa matraque à la main."

Natural Translation

The police officer held his baton in his hand.

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