exchange

[ iks-cheynj ]

/ ɪksˈtʃeɪndʒ /

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.

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 exchanger

During the course of the unprofitable labour of waiting till he had found an exchanger who wanted coals, he might have perished.
Knowledge is Power:|Charles Knight
He cannot exist, except as a beggar, unless he puts himself in the condition to become an exchanger.
Knowledge is Power:|Charles Knight
The rates of exchange of foreign coins were fixed by proclamation, and the office of exchanger limited to a particular place.
The History of Currency, 1252 to 1896|William Arthur Shaw

British Dictionary definitions for exchanger (1 of 2)

exchanger

/ (ɪksˈtʃeɪndʒə) /

noun

a person or thing that exchanges

British Dictionary definitions for exchanger (2 of 2)

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 exchanger (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 exchanger (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

RELATED CONTENT

Nearby words

Origin of exchange

Examples from the Web for exchanger

British Dictionary definitions for exchanger (1 of 2)

exchanger

noun

British Dictionary definitions for exchanger (2 of 2)

exchange

verb

noun

Word Origin for exchange

Word Origin and History for exchanger (1 of 2)

exchange

Word Origin and History for exchanger (1 of 2)

exchange

Medicine definitions for exchanger

exchange

v.

n.

Idioms and Phrases with exchanger

exchange