token
noun [ C ]
uk/ˈtəʊkən/ us MONEY
a round piece of metal or plastic that is used instead of money in some machines, for example, to get food or drink out of a vending machine, use a car park, etc:
You'll need some tokens for the coffee machine.
MARKETING
a piece of paper that is given when you buy a particular product, which can be exchanged for something when you have collected enough of them:
There is a promotion on the cereal box offering a free toy for every 10 tokens you collect.
formal
an action that you take or a thing that you give that is a symbol of your feelings about something, even though it may not be very big or valuable:
a token of sth Please accept this gift as a token of our gratitude.
See also
book token
gift token
token
adjective [ before noun ]
uk/ˈtəʊkən/ us disapproving
done or existing only to show that you are following rules or doing what is expected, even though the results are limited:
The wording of the advertisement was merely a token gesture towards equal opportunities.
She was appointed as the token woman on the board
used to describe a payment that is very small:
a token sum/payment
There is a token charge for membership of the staff club.