exchange

[ iks-cheynj ]

/ ɪksˈtʃeɪndʒ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR exchange ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), ex·changed, ex·chang·ing.

to give up (something) for something else; part with for some equivalent; change for another.

to replace (returned merchandise) with an equivalent or something else: Most stores will allow the purchaser to exchange goods.

to give and receive reciprocally; interchange: to exchange blows; to exchange gifts.

to part with in return for some equivalent; transfer for a recompense; barter: to exchange goods with foreign countries.

Chess. to capture (an enemy piece) in return for a capture by the opponent generally of pieces of equal value.

verb (used without object), ex·changed, ex·chang·ing.

to make an exchange; engage in bartering, replacing, or substituting one thing for another.

to pass or be taken in exchange or as an equivalent.

noun

the act, process, or an instance of exchanging: The contesting nations arranged for an exchange of prisoners; money in exchange for services.

something that is given or received in exchange or substitution for something else: The car was a fair exchange.

a place for buying and selling commodities, securities, etc., typically open only to members.

a central office or central station: a telephone exchange.

the method or system by which debits and credits in different places are settled without the actual transfer of money, by means of bills of exchange representing money values.

the discharge of obligations in different places by the transfer of credits.

the amount or percentage charged for exchanging money, collecting a draft, etc.

the reciprocal transfer of equivalent sums of money, as in the currencies of two different countries.

the giving or receiving of a sum of money in one place for a bill ordering the payment of an equivalent sum in another.

exchange rate.

the amount of the difference in value between two or more currencies, or between the values of the same currency at two or more places.

the checks, drafts, etc., exchanged at a clearinghouse.

Chess. a reciprocal capture of pieces of equivalent value by opponents in a single series of moves.

Nearby words

excess sound pressure, excess supply, excess-profits tax, excessive, exch., exchange, exchange force, exchange rate, exchange rate mechanism, exchange student, exchange transfusion

Origin of exchange

1250–1300; (v.) Middle English eschaungen < Anglo-French eschaungier < Vulgar Latin *excambiāre (see ex-¹, change); (noun) Middle English eschaunge < Anglo-French (Old French eschange), derivative of eschaungier; modern spelling with ex- on the model of ex-¹

SYNONYMS FOR exchange

1 interchange, commute, barter, trade, swap.

8 interchange, trade, traffic, business, commerce, barter.

10 market.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR exchange ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsex·chang·er, nounpre·ex·change, verb (used with object), pre·ex·changed, pre·ex·chang·ing.re·ex·change, verb, re·ex·changed, re·ex·chang·ing.un·ex·changed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for exchange

Gift cards are sold at kiosks in shopping malls or even websites that catering to this exchange market.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks|M.L. Nestel|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Gross and an unnamed American intelligence agent were freed Wednesday in exchange for three Cuban spies.
Cuba Protects America’s Most Wanted|Michael Daly|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Each time he mentions a story point or repeats an exchange of dialogue, he glances up to see if she's smiling.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In exchange for the increase in sales, the dispensaries pay the service, not the consumer.
Days Are Numbered for Nestdrop, LA’s ‘Uber for Weed’|Justin Hampton|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The evidence considered by the jury hinged on a 90-second exchange of words, violence, and gunshots.
The Three Biggest Unanswered Questions About Ferguson|Jacob Siegel|November 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He proposes to exchange papers connected with the departments.
The Life of Sir Rowland Hill, Vol. II (of 2)|Rowland Hill
Exchange bows, of course, if a Quaker will bow; but I'm too happy to-day to be disturbed by talk with him.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond
The common monetary system prevailing in every land fostered trade and facilitated the exchange of products.
The Moon Metal|Garrett P. Serviss
That autumn Elias went into Ranen with his whole family in the six-oared boat, to exchange it for a ten-oared boat.
The Visionary|Jonas Lie
Careful reading of the pamphlet, however, shows that these stocks are not a part of the exchange list.
Twenty Years a Detective in the Wickedest City in the World|Clifton R. Wooldridge

British Dictionary definitions for exchange

exchange

/ (ɪksˈtʃeɪndʒ) /

verb

(tr) to give up, part with, or transfer (one thing) for an equivalentto exchange gifts; to exchange francs for dollars

(tr) to give and receive (information, ideas, etc); interchange

(tr) to replace (one thing) with another, esp to replace unsatisfactory goods

to transfer or hand over (goods) in return for the equivalent value in kind rather than in money; barter; trade

(tr) chess to capture and surrender (pieces, usually of the same value) in a single sequence of moves

noun

the act or process of exchanging

anything given or received as an equivalent, replacement, or substitute for something else
(as modifier)an exchange student

an argument or quarrel; altercationthe two men had a bitter exchange

Also called: telephone exchange a switching centre in which telephone lines are interconnected

a place where securities or commodities are sold, bought, or traded, esp by brokers or merchantsa stock exchange; a corn exchange
(as modifier)an exchange broker

the system by which commercial debts between parties in different places are settled by commercial documents, esp bills of exchange, instead of by direct payment of money
the percentage or fee charged for accepting payment in this manner

a transfer or interchange of sums of money of equivalent value, as between different national currencies or different issues of the same currency

(often plural) the cheques, drafts, bills, etc, exchanged or settled between banks in a clearing house

chess the capture by both players of pieces of equal value, usually on consecutive moves

lose the exchange chess to lose a rook in return for a bishop or knight

win the exchange chess to win a rook in return for a bishop or knight

med another word for transfusion (def. 2)

physics a process in which a particle is transferred between two nucleons, such as the transfer of a meson between two nucleons

Derived Formsexchangeable, adjectiveexchangeability, nounexchangeably, adverb

Word Origin for exchange

C14: from Anglo-French eschaungier, from Vulgar Latin excambiāre (unattested), from Latin cambīre to barter

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

Word Origin and History for exchange (1 of 2)

exchange

late 14c., "act of reciprocal giving and receiving," from Anglo-French eschaunge, Old French eschange (Modern French échange), from Late Latin excambium, from excambiare, from Latin ex- "out" (see ex-) + cambire "barter" (see change). Practice of merchants or lenders meeting to exchange bills of debt led to meaning "building for mercantile business" (1580s).

Word Origin and History for exchange (1 of 2)

exchange

late 15c., from Old French eschangier "exchange, barter," from Vulgar Latin *excambiare (source of Italian scambiare); see exchange (n.). Related: Exchanged; exchanging.

exchange

verb (used with object), ex·changed, ex·chang·ing.

verb (used without object), ex·changed, ex·chang·ing.

noun

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Origin of exchange

Examples from the Web for exchange

British Dictionary definitions for exchange

exchange

verb

noun

Word Origin for exchange

Word Origin and History for exchange (1 of 2)

exchange

Word Origin and History for exchange (1 of 2)

exchange

Medicine definitions for exchange

exchange

v.

n.

Idioms and Phrases with exchange

exchange