swap
Americanverb (used with object)
-
swaps,
present (3rd person singular)
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swapped,
past participle, past
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swapping
present participle
-
to exchange, barter, or trade, as one thing for another.
He swapped his wrist watch for the radio.
-
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.
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to replace (one thing) with another (sometimes followed byout ).
To cut down on fat, swap cream for milk.
verb (used without object)
-
swaps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swapped,
past participle, past
-
swapping
present participle
noun
-
swaps
plural
verb
noun
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an exchange
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something that is exchanged
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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swapsimple
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swapssimple
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have swappedperfect
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has swappedperfect
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am swappingprogressive
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are swappingprogressive
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is swappingprogressive
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have been swappingperfect progressive
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has been swappingperfect progressive
Past
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swappedsimple
-
had swappedperfect
-
was swappingprogressive
-
were swappingprogressive
-
had been swappingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swap
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English swappen “to strike, strike hands (in bargaining)”; cognate with dialectal German schwappen “to clap, box (the ears)”
Explanation
The word swap means you give something in exchange for something else. In the medieval ages, a farmer would swap — or exchange — his cow for his neighbor's horse. First used in the 1590s to mean "exchange, barter, trade," as a noun swap can mean an equal exchange. You might do a clothes swap with one of your friends in the hopes of perking up your wardrobe. As a verb swap describes the act of exchanging something for something else. You might swap oil for applesauce when baking brownies to make this treat healthier. In computer science swap means you move a piece of a computer program into memory.
Vocabulary lists containing swap
"Culture Clash"
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 17–September 23, 2022
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Ship Breaker
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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:
In 2023, US journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on espionage charges, later sentenced to 16 years in prison before being released in a 2024 prisoner swap.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
Despite his theoretically more durable tyres, the Briton pitted on lap 18 to switch to the softs, while Leclerc waited until lap 24 to swap his softs for mediums.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
For two days in September, hundreds of everyday investors descend on a conference center in cities like Miami, Las Vegas and Houston to attend training sessions, swap trading tips and swarm the open bar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
Credit-default swap spreads have widened across several major AI companies, but stock prices have reacted differently.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
The credit default swap was a zero-sum game.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Partial repudiation could trigger payout on credit-default swaps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The investors would profit if bonds outperformed relative to swaps, which acted as the hedge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
There is a moment in the 1939 film 'The Wizard of Oz' where Dorothy swaps her monochrome world for glorious, eye-opening technicolour the minute she touches down in the Land of Oz.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Furthermore, the cost of insuring high-yield debt in the technology sector, via credit-default swaps, is back at levels from the spring, while investment-grade tech CDS are at their highest since 2023, he notes.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
On March 19, 2005, alone in his office with the door closed and the shades drawn, reading an abstruse textbook on credit derivatives, Michael Burry got an idea: credit default swaps on subprime mortgage bonds.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Claire consistently took ownership of one of the worst trades in Dodgers history, when he swapped future Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez for infielder Delino DeShields.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
The company later swapped HDQ Neutral for a different cleaning product.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Aston Villa and Tottenham effectively swapped places at either end of the table, with Villa rising up from the bottom three to finish in the top four and Spurs dropping to 17th.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
It has led to a tony version of an old western shoot-out, with opinion pieces in Aspen’s two local newspapers replacing revolver bullets and $8 matcha lattes at Sant Ambroeus swapped for 10-cent beers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
She studied the outfit another moment before she swapped out the feathers for a simple bamboo-and-silk folding fan.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Roberts burned rookie Josue De Paula as a pinch hitter, swapping him out for Kiké Hernández when the Brewers brought in left-handed reliever DL Hall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Geely and NIO also reached a battery swapping and charging partnership this week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The researchers did not limit their experiments to conventional face swapping deepfakes.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
Chinese EV maker NIO raised some cash by selling part of its battery swapping business to Geely.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
Every so often, she’d change the layout of our living room, putting a new slipcover on the sofa, swapping out the photos and framed prints that hung on our walls.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
