to cause (a device) to operate by or as if by moving a switch, knob, or lever; turn on
informal (tr) to produce (charm, tears, etc) suddenly or automatically
informal (tr) (now slightly dated) to make up-to-date, esp regarding outlook, dress, etc
slang (tr) to arouse emotionally or sexually
slang (intr) to take or become intoxicated by drugs
slang (tr) to introduce (someone) to drugs
Noun use of verb phrase switch on
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Instead, organisers have been left scrambling to organise a muted switch-on, with Sunday's event cancelled following advice from its safety advisory group, amid nationwide security concerns in the wake of the Manchester synagogue attack.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025
The council said Christmas switch-on events would take place in Halesowen on 15 November, in Brierley Hill and Stourbridge on 22 November, in Sedgley on 23 November and in Dudley on 6 December.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2025
About 200 people are expected to attend a lights switch-on from 18:30 GMT in which the tree will glow with 1,000 lights.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2024
Councils have already cancelled weekend Christmas light switch-on events in Perth and Renfrew.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2024
Thursday's Christmas tree lights switch-on was also cancelled due to the bad weather forecast, the council confirmed.
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2022
Two were broadcasting their locations as they crossed and a third appeared to switch on its location tracker just past the line.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
The idea, in a nutshell, is to switch on the immune system and starve the cancer at the same time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
“We’re not pulling a bait and switch on you,” Hoover told The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
Instead of lowering temperature, they investigated whether diet alone could switch on thermogenesis.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 27, 2026
I threw a switch on my instrument panel, and our two spacecraft were separated.
From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins
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.
