interchange

[in-ter-cheynj, in-ter-cheynj]

verb (used with object)

interchanged, interchanging 

1. to put each in the place of the other.

   to interchange pieces of modular furniture.

2. to cause (one thing) to change places with another; transpose.

3. to give and receive (things) reciprocally; exchange.

   The twins interchanged clothes frequently.

4. to cause to follow one another alternately; alternate.

   to interchange business cares with pleasures.

verb (used without object)

interchanged, interchanging 

1. to occur by turns or in succession; alternate.

2. to change places, as two persons or things, or as one with another.

noun

1. an act or instance of interchanging; reciprocal exchange.

   the interchange of commodities.

2. a changing of places, as between two persons or things, or of one with another.

3. alternation; alternate succession.

4. a highway intersection consisting of a system of several different road levels arranged so that vehicles may move from one road to another without crossing the streams of traffic.

interchange

verb

1. to change places or cause to change places; alternate; exchange; switch

noun

1. the act of interchanging; exchange or alternation

2. a motorway junction of interconnecting roads and bridges designed to prevent streams of traffic crossing one another

Other Word Forms

• interchanger noun
• preinterchange noun
• interchangeably adverb
• interchangeable adjective
• interchangeability noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of interchange¹

1325–75; inter- + change; replacing Middle English entrechaungen < Middle French entrechangier

Example Sentences

The agreement comes after a two-decade antitrust battle over interchange fees, the charges banks collect from merchants every time a customer pays with plastic.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Some small merchants have been steering customers to pay with apps to avoid interchange fees, or giving discounts to customers who don’t pay with cards.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

At the heart of the matter are credit-card interchange fees, which merchants pony up when shoppers pay with plastic.

Read more on Barron's

The settlement would also lower the networks’ combined average effective credit interchange rates in the U.S. by 10 basis points for five years, whereas the prior attempt at a settlement allowed for a 7-basis-point reduction.

Read more on MarketWatch

In March 2024, the two sides reached a deal to lower interchange fees by around 0.07 percentage point on average over five years.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• give-and-take 
• intersection 
• junction 
• networking