interchange
Americanverb (used with object)
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to put each in the place of the other.
to interchange pieces of modular furniture.
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to cause (one thing) to change places with another; transpose.
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to give and receive (things) reciprocally; exchange.
The twins interchanged clothes frequently.
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to cause to follow one another alternately; alternate.
to interchange business cares with pleasures.
verb (used without object)
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to occur by turns or in succession; alternate.
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to change places, as two persons or things, or as one with another.
noun
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an act or instance of interchanging; reciprocal exchange.
the interchange of commodities.
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a changing of places, as between two persons or things, or of one with another.
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alternation; alternate succession.
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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.
verb
noun
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the act of interchanging; exchange or alternation
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a motorway junction of interconnecting roads and bridges designed to prevent streams of traffic crossing one another
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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interchangeabilitynoun
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interchangernoun
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preinterchangenoun
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interchangeableadjective
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interchangeablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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interchangesimple
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interchangessimple
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have interchangedperfect
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has interchangedperfect
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am interchangingprogressive
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are interchangingprogressive
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is interchangingprogressive
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have been interchangingperfect progressive
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has been interchangingperfect progressive
Past
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interchangedsimple
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had interchangedperfect
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was interchangingprogressive
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were interchangingprogressive
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had been interchangingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of interchange
1325–75; inter- + change; replacing Middle English entrechaungen < Middle French entrechangier
Explanation
To interchange two things is to trade or switch them. If the painting hanging on your wall just doesn't fit the room, you can interchange it with the photograph on the opposite wall. When you're baking a pie, you can usually interchange one kind of fruit for another, or interchange tapioca for cornstarch to thicken the filling. When interchange is a noun, it has various meanings including "highway intersection," or the place where these busy roads meet each other. This road meaning dates only from the 1940s, while the "change places" meaning is at least 400 years old.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
An air ambulance was dispatched as part of the emergency response to the collision, which happened just south of Elstow, near the the road interchange of the A421 and A6.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
In Oxfordshire, where there are plans for a new theme park and rail freight interchange, concerns have also been raised about the impact.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
In October 2023, Moreno was found dead near the Interstate 5 and State Route 905 interchange.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
Executives from the two railroads have said that the merger merits include reducing bottlenecks at interchange terminals which would speed up long-haul cargo deliveries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
He retailed to them the curious interchange of phrases he had overheard on the journey from Aleppo.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
The insurance company said most people driving during the festive period travelled less than 100 miles, meaning congestion is likely around motorway interchanges and retail destinations.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025
The two railroads, which control tracks on opposite sides of the Mississippi River, contend that by joining forces they could reduce bottlenecks at the Midwest interchanges and get coast-to-coast deliveries to retailers and factories faster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
The revamp began with construction of three imposing new bridges spanning the Ebrie Lagoon and several road interchanges.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2025
“There are some groups out there that want to spend billions and billions and billions of dollars on more, bigger, wider interchanges across the state,” Walker said at the time.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2024
Except that here the cars were driving above and under each other as if they were on interchanges that were stacked ten storeys high.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
The last third of your book is so completely like “The Grapes of Wrath” that the families and characters might basically be interchanged in the two.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2024
Havertz continually caused problems by picking up pockets of space with his movement off the ball while Saka, Trossard and Martinelli interchanged in the box to regularly threaten.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2024
The team has already interchanged forwards in Heber and Ruidiaz this season due to hamstring injuries.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
First, they found the phone number the government lists for its hotline is inaccurate, with two numbers interchanged.
From Washington Times ● May 31, 2018
P means taking the mirror image, so left and right are interchanged.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
Wiegman often uses James as a winger, interchanging with Manchester City's Hemp on the opposite side, but she can also play as a number 10.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2025
By morning the fires had largely been contained, but interchanging winds caused intermittent flare-ups.
From Reuters ● Aug. 7, 2023
“We feel confident that we can keep interchanging different players there and they can go out and provide the same contributions and do the same job for us.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 27, 2023
At first, Jungnickel said, the Americans considered a combination of pushing and interchanging the front skater.
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
We passed a quarter of an hour in close examination of each other, interchanging as well as we could a few Russian words which very inadequately expressed our thoughts.
From Celebrated Women Travellers of the Nineteenth Century by Adams, W. H. Davenport
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
