swap

[ swop ]
See synonyms for swap on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),swapped, swap·ping.
  1. to exchange, barter, or trade, as one thing for another: He swapped his wrist watch for the radio.

  2. to substitute (one thing) for another (sometimes followed by in): Swap in red wine for white, since powerful nutrients are in the red grape's skin.

  1. to replace (one thing) with another (sometimes followed by out): To cut down on fat, swap cream for milk.

verb (used without object),swapped, swap·ping.
  1. to make an exchange.

noun
  1. an exchange: He got the radio in a swap.

Origin of swap

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English swappen “to strike, strike hands (in bargaining)”; cognate with dialectal German schwappen “to clap, box (the ears)”
  • Also especially British, swop .

Other words from swap

  • swapper, noun
  • un·swapped, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use swap in a sentence

  • The king sassed back as much as was safe for him, and then swapped around and lit into me again.

    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
  • The boys had ridden back, swapped them for their own, and hit the trail.

    The Highgrader | William MacLeod Raine
  • I laughed, discussed affairs of the day whimsically, and swapped anecdotes, as though out on a collegians holiday.

    The Wasted Generation | Owen Johnson
  • Had a Testament in his pocket when he came aboard; in a week's time he had swapped it for a pack of cards.

  • He swapped his neat suit of brown with a deck-hand, and received some particularly unkempt garments.

    Blow The Man Down | Holman Day

British Dictionary definitions for swap

swap

swop

/ (swɒp) /


verbswaps, swapping, swapped, swops, swopping or swopped
  1. to trade or exchange (something or someone) for another

noun
  1. an exchange

  2. something that is exchanged

  1. Also called: swap option, swaption finance a contract in which the parties to it exchange liabilities on outstanding debts, often exchanging fixed interest-rate for floating-rate debts (debt swap), either as a means of managing debt or in trading (swap trading)

Origin of swap

1
C14 (in the sense: to shake hands on a bargain, strike): probably of imitative origin

Derived forms of swap

  • swapper or swopper, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012