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swipe card

American

noun

a plastic card with magnetically encoded data that is decoded when passed through a slotted electronic reader, especially for payment or identification purposes.

swipe card British

noun

a credit card, identity card, etc, with a magnetic strip that holds encoded information that can be electronically interpreted as it is passed through the slot of a machine designed to read it

"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

Etymology

Origin of swipe card

First recorded in 1980–85

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.

Ms Tomkinson said the method of staff access to insulin had since changed with a "clear audit trail" provided by a "bespoke swipe card that is absolutely aligned to an individual staff member".

From BBC • Jan. 13, 2025

Maine authorities have managed to thwart poaching in the state using new controls including a swipe card system meant to deter illegal sales.

From Seattle Times • May 1, 2024

Can it successfully use the weird electronic swipe card that I need to get into our office building?

From The Verge • Feb. 11, 2022

Locking myself out of the lab because I left my swipe card on my desk was a reasonably common occurrence.

From Nature • May 7, 2020

When the fishermen sell, they present the dealer a swipe card, which records the size of their catch and prevents them from exceeding their quota.

From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2017

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023