swap

especially British, swop

[swop]

verb (used with object)

swapped, swapping 

1. to exchange, barter, or trade, as one thing for another.

   He swapped his wrist watch for the radio.

2. to substitute (one thing) for another (sometimes followed byin ).

   Swap in red wine for white, since powerful nutrients are in the red grape's skin.

3. to replace (one thing) with another (sometimes followed byout ).

   To cut down on fat, swap cream for milk.

verb (used without object)

swapped, swapping 

1. to make an exchange.

noun

1. an exchange.

   He got the radio in a swap.

swap

/ swɒp /

verb

1. to trade or exchange (something or someone) for another

noun

1. an exchange

2. something that is exchanged

3. Also called: swap option.  swaption. finance a contract in which the parties to it exchange liabilities on outstanding debts, often exchanging fixed interest-rate for floating-rate debts ( debt swap ), either as a means of managing debt or in trading ( swap trading )

Other Word Forms

• swapper noun
• unswapped adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of swap¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English swappen “to strike, strike hands (in bargaining)”; cognate with dialectal German schwappen “to clap, box (the ears)”

Word History and Origins

Origin of swap¹

C14 (in the sense: to shake hands on a bargain, strike): probably of imitative origin

Example Sentences

One week later, the Treasury announced a $20 billion currency swap financed through America’s Exchange Stabilization Fund, which Argentina used to make its Nov. 1 IMF debt payment.

Read more on MarketWatch

A north London school has swapped truancy fines for parents for education awareness courses.

Read more on BBC

Meanwhile, the cost of insuring those bonds using credit-default swaps also has climbed, with negative sentiments from different groups of investors feeding into each other.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That same year, Riyadh helped broker a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

As of Friday afternoon, Oracle’s credit default swap levels were at 115, while both Microsoft and Amazon were at 35.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• substitute 
• switch 
• trade