swatch

American  

[swoch] / swɒtʃ /

noun

1. a sample of cloth or other material.

2. a sample, patch, or characteristic specimen of anything.

---

swatch British  

/ swɒtʃ /

noun

1. a sample of cloth

2. a number of such samples, usually fastened together in book form

3. printing

   1. a small sample of colour supplied to the printer for matching during printing

   2. a sample of ink spread on paper by a printer to check the accuracy of a required colour

---

Etymology

Origin of swatch

First recorded in 1505–15; akin to switch

Explanation

A swatch is a small piece of fabric that's used as a sample. If you're considering buying a purple velvet couch, you can order a swatch to see if it's really going to match your living room rug. A swatch is useful because it gives you an idea of what something larger—like curtains, a dress, or an upholstered piece of furniture—will look like. Sometimes swatch is also used for samples of other things, like paint colors or makeup. Swatch comes from 16th-century Scots, in which it was used to mean "a tally fixed to a piece of cloth before dyeing."

Example Sentences

Swatch also closed stores in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Glasgow and London over safety concerns, with social media video showing big queues and scuffles in other stores internationally.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

The boss of Swatch has defended the launch of its collaboration with Audemars Piguet after shops in cities around the world saw disruption when large crowds attempted to buy its new pocket watch.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

The situation has now “normalized somewhat” after Swatch made it clear that the Royal Pop Collection would be available for several months, the spokesman said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

Biel, Switzerland-based Swatch is led by the family of Nicolas Hayek, credited with saving Swiss watchmaking in the 1980s from the threat of low-cost quartz models from Japan.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

She had bobbed blond hair and hard, curled bangs, and she was the only kid in school with a Swatch.

From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell