Definition of "branding iron" []

• An iron that is heated and used for indicating identity or ownership. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Among other things Ribas found a branding iron in the shape of a P, with which Rosete had intended to mark the foreheads of the patriots and those of their children."
• ""Take them away," Bautista commanded as he tossed the branding iron into the fireplace, then turned and stared defiantly at Sharpe."
• "He would follow me, get the branding iron from the wool-shed, apply the proved method, and send me down-country with the crutchings."