switch

American  

[swich] / swɪtʃ /

noun

• switches
  plural

1. a turning, shifting, or changing.

   After the scandal there was a dramatic switch of votes to another candidate.

   Synonyms:

   alternation, shift, change

2. a slender growing shoot, as of a plant.

   A forked willow switch can supposedly be used to find water underground.

3. a slender, flexible shoot, rod, etc., used especially as a whip, as for corporal punishment.

   Discipline there was done by means of a switch.

   She would take a switch to the ox, but never more severely than to get its attention.

4. a stroke, lash, or whisking movement, with or as if with a slender, flexible rod or shoot.

   She was interrupted by a switch in the face from a tree branch.

5. Electricity. a device for turning on or off or directing an electric current or for making or breaking a circuit.

6. Computers.

   1. a device connecting others in a network, enabling communication among them by interrogating each received data packet for its source and destination and then routing it to the appropriate device in the network.

   2. Also called switch statement. (in a program or piece of code) a structure permitting a number of different actions as determined by the value of a particular expression.

   3. Also called command-line switch. an argument sent to a program when it is run from the command line rather than via a graphical user interface, and which modifies the function of the command.

7. Railroads. a track structure for diverting moving trains or rolling stock from one track to another, commonly consisting of a pair of movable rails.

8. Bridge. a change to a suit other than the one played or bid previously.

9. Basketball. a maneuver in which two teammates on defense shift assignments so that each guards the opponent usually guarded by the other.

10. a hairpiece consisting of a bunch or tress of long hair or some substitute, fastened together at one end and worn by women to supplement their own hair.

11. a tuft of hair at the end of the tail of some animals, as of the cow or lion.

12. Slang.

    1. (especially in BDSM) a person who is willing to take either a dominant or a submissive role in a sexual relationship.

    2. (in the LGBTQ community) a person who is willing to take either a penetrative or a receptive role in a particular sexual act, especially anal intercourse.

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verb (used with object)

• switches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• switched,
  past participle,  past
• switching
  present participle

1. to shift or exchange.

   The two girls switched their lunch boxes.

2. to turn, shift, or divert.

   to switch conversation from a painful subject.

3. Electricity. to connect, disconnect, or redirect (an electric circuit or the device it serves) by operating a switch (often followed by off oron ).

   I switched on a light.

4. Railroads.

   1. to move or transfer (a train, car, etc.) from one set of tracks to another.

   2. to drop or add (cars) or to make up (a train).

5. Movies, Television. to shift rapidly from one camera to another in order to change camera angles or shots.

6. to whip or beat with a switch or the like; lash.

   He switched the boy with a cane.

7. to move, swing, or whisk (a cane, a fishing line, etc.) with a swift, lashing stroke.

verb (used without object)

• switches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• switched,
  past participle,  past
• switching
  present participle

1. to change direction or course; turn, shift, or change.

2. to exchange or replace something with another.

   He still eats a lot of potato chips, but he's switched to a brand that's lower in salt.

3. to make a stroke or strokes with or as with a switch.

4. to move or sway back and forth, as a cat's tail.

5. to be shifted, turned, etc., by means of a switch.

6. Basketball. to execute a switch.

7. Bridge. to lead a card of a suit different from the suit just led by oneself or one's partner.

idioms

1. asleep at the switch, failing to perform one's duty, missing an opportunity, etc., because of negligence or inattention.

   He lost the contract because he was asleep at the switch.

switch British  

/ swɪtʃ /

noun

1. a mechanical, electrical, electronic, or optical device for opening or closing a circuit or for diverting energy from one part of a circuit to another

2. a swift and usually sudden shift or change

3. an exchange or swap

4. a flexible rod or twig, used esp for punishment

5. the sharp movement or blow of such an instrument

6. a tress of false hair used to give added length or bulk to a woman's own hairstyle

7. the tassel-like tip of the tail of cattle and certain other animals

8. any of various card games in which the suit is changed during play

9. a railway siding

10. a railway point

11. informal See switchboard

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verb

1. to shift, change, turn aside, or change the direction of (something)

2. to exchange (places); replace (something by something else)

   the battalions switched fronts

3. to transfer (rolling stock) from one railway track to another

4. (tr) to cause (an electric current) to start or stop flowing or to change its path by operating a switch

5. to swing or cause to swing, esp back and forth

6. (tr) to lash or whip with or as if with a switch

switch More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing switch

• asleep at the switch
• bait and switch

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• switcher
  noun
• switchable
  adjective
• switchlike
  adjective
• unswitchable
  adjective
• unswitched
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• switches
  plural

Participles

• switching
  present
• switched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• switch
  simple
• switches
  simple
• have switched
  perfect
• has switched
  perfect
• am switching
  progressive
• are switching
  progressive
• is switching
  progressive
• have been switching
  perfect progressive
• has been switching
  perfect progressive

Past

• switched
  simple
• had switched
  perfect
• was switching
  progressive
• were switching
  progressive
• had been switching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will switch
  simple
• will have switched
  perfect
• will be switching
  progressive
• will have been switching
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of switch

First recorded in 1585–95; earlier swits, switz “slender riding whip, flexible stick”; compare Low German (Hanoverian) schwutsche “long, thin stick”

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Explanation

If you and your friend are seated separately on an airplane, you can always ask a stranger if they will switch seats with you. To switch is to change or exchange. Switch can be a noun or verb, and in most cases it has the meaning of change. You can switch classes, political parties, or the radio station. Sometimes if you switch something with someone, they take yours and you take theirs — as in an exchange or trade. However, there is one unrelated and frightening meaning for the word. In the olden days, a form of punishment was to be hit with a thin, flexible, piece of wood called a switch.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

switch switches switched switching

In practice, the switch had one undeniable result: Investors could no longer see how much of Nvidia’s sales were tied to Singapore, just as scrutiny of its relationship with Megaspeed was intensifying behind the scenes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

She acknowledged that her switch "may disappoint or break the hearts" of some supporters.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026

One big driver of this has been the switch from burials to cremation: 85% of Olson’s business consists of cremations this year, well above the national average of about 64%.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 8, 2026

For drivers already making the switch, the argument remains simple.

From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2026

Turning from girl to monster to owl was as easy as flicking a switch or shifting between apps on her phone.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

At much smaller scales, however, the preferred rotation switches to clockwise.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2026

The enablers include power semiconductors—chips that work as high-performance switches.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

Arista, which provides switches and routers for AI data-center networking, has fallen 18.4% in a month, but is up 29% on the year.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

The “Smart Door Panel” on the driver’s side door consolidates many functions—window, door, seating, mirror adjustment, exterior and interior illumination—into a piano-black panel of haptic switches.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

He grabs the remote and switches around until he lands on a different news station...and on the screen is a face I thought I’d never see again.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Their driver brought them to Connecticut, where they switched vehicles and got taken to the airport.

From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2026

McCartney said that during video calls Chowdhury had his camera switched off blaming technical problems.

From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026

She switched to a “high-fat carnivore” diet in 2019 and now documents her red-meat mornings for her 647,000 Instagram followers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2026

They selected several genes that might be responsible and systematically switched them off, looking for changes in the enzyme's activity.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

“That’s still on. It’s just been switched to the school, that’s all. I called Rabbi Gold. He’s totally on board.”

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman

This did not deter Hutchinson from advancing in the latter rounds and landing rapid triple jabs, while also switching stances.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026

“It’s just the category is under some pressure relative to switching out of cream cheese into cottage cheese and others. And that’s very addressable, but it’s going to take just a little bit of time.”

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 7, 2026

Davis, who is severely autistic, spent the entire night in the E.R., switching rooms several times—even getting stuck on a bed in the hallway at one point.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

"Each slow wave reflects an enormous population of neurons switching off and back on together," Sharon said.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

The pauses in the conversation are not awkward, though they struggle to find the same rhythm in speaking that was already present in their written exchanges, often switching from one language to another.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

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Related Words

• convert
• divert
• replace
• shift
• swap
• turn
• veer

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