interchangeable
Americanadjective
-
(of two things) capable of being put or used in the place of each other.
interchangeable symbols.
-
(of one thing) capable of replacing or changing places with something else.
an interchangeable part.
Related Words
See exchangeable.
Other Word Forms
- interchangeability noun
- interchangeableness noun
- interchangeably adverb
- noninterchangeability noun
- noninterchangeable adjective
- noninterchangeableness noun
- uninterchangeable adjective
Etymology
Origin of interchangeable
First recorded in 1400–50; interchange + -able; replacing late Middle English entrechaungeable, from Middle French entrechangeable
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.
Western countries fear that these satellite launch systems incorporate technologies interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles, potentially capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
From Barron's
Whether those platforms belong in the market will depend on evidence that shows consumer attention is genuinely interchangeable across them.
From Barron's
On the other hand, if the parts of a flintlock rifle were interchangeable, a soldier could repair his weapon without the need for a gunsmith.
According to historian Howard Sachar, “By the 1920s, ‘Jews’ and ‘criminality’ ceased to be interchangeable terms in the public vernacular.”
The 16th century’s fondness for treating Agnes/Anne and Hamnet/Hamlet as interchangeable versions of the same name is part of the plot and must be endured.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
