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.
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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
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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
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were swappingprogressive
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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:
Or you can find a cheaper booking on your own and ask the agent to swap out the pricier item in your itinerary.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
It will ask if you would like to swap days, then handle the changes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
My best friend Paloma and I used to go to the Spring Valley swap meet every Sunday when we were growing up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The plane swap prompted renewed scrutiny of the Qatar-gifted jet, which the Times reported did not have the same security features as the older jet, including anti-missile defenses.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Thus designed, Morgan Stanley’s new bespoke credit default swap was virtually certain one day to pay off.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
The result has been a huge expansion of two popular government bond trades, arbitraging Treasurys or British gilts against bond futures or swaps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Now, with “No Me Arrepiento de Sentir Tanto” — which in English translates to “I Don’t Regret Feeling So Much” — Karol G swaps her vibrant, tropical facade for a soft blue vulnerability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
A number of Americans previously considered wrongfully detained in China have been freed, including in swaps engineered between Beijing and Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
"Last minute bookings won't always work," says May Burrough, 38, a chief operating officer from London who has done 34 home swaps over the last three years using HomeExchange.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
If the value of the credit default swaps fell by half, Scion registered a mark-to-market loss of 20 percent.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
They swapped their $2,500-a-month, two-bedroom apartment there for a $2,000-a-month, three-bedroom home in Georgia.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
Hunt was among those to embrace this as well as she swapped out her silver earrings for gold at the European Championships, and wore a tiara after winning her 200m gold on Thursday evening.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Anthropic’s Mythos practiced deception, while OpenAI models swapped tips on a secret message board for future exploits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
So I went ahead and swapped my normal creams containing high amounts of glycerin, aloe and other plant-based ingredients for tallow-based alternatives for a two-week period.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Everyone—neighbors, people at school, the person who bagged their groceries—would just think that he was one of the bio kids, as permanent as blood, someone who could never be traded in, swapped out, sent away.
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
It is a curious diagnosis from an administration whose senior officials have lately been swapping notes on a regimen nicknamed the “sauerkraut diet.”
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Often, the invocations of doubling and role swapping seem hypothetical.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Levy told the crowd that he and Gosling spent a lot of their downtime on set daydreaming about Ghost Rider and swapping ideas.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Arevalo, who is originally from Ecuador and whose family has run the food truck for over 20 years, has noticed several benefits after swapping out his petrol generator.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
I sat down on the bed and watched the other kids change into pajamas, swapping random camp tales.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
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.
