switch

American  

[swich] / swɪtʃ /

noun

• switches
  plural

1. a turning, shifting, or changing.

   After the scandal there was a dramatic switch of votes to another candidate.

   Synonyms:

   alternation, shift, change

2. a slender growing shoot, as of a plant.

   A forked willow switch can supposedly be used to find water underground.

3. a slender, flexible shoot, rod, etc., used especially as a whip, as for corporal punishment.

   Discipline there was done by means of a switch.

   She would take a switch to the ox, but never more severely than to get its attention.

4. a stroke, lash, or whisking movement, with or as if with a slender, flexible rod or shoot.

   She was interrupted by a switch in the face from a tree branch.

5. Electricity. a device for turning on or off or directing an electric current or for making or breaking a circuit.

6. Computers.

   1. a device connecting others in a network, enabling communication among them by interrogating each received data packet for its source and destination and then routing it to the appropriate device in the network.

   2. Also called switch statement. (in a program or piece of code) a structure permitting a number of different actions as determined by the value of a particular expression.

   3. Also called command-line switch. an argument sent to a program when it is run from the command line rather than via a graphical user interface, and which modifies the function of the command.

7. Railroads. a track structure for diverting moving trains or rolling stock from one track to another, commonly consisting of a pair of movable rails.

8. Bridge. a change to a suit other than the one played or bid previously.

9. Basketball. a maneuver in which two teammates on defense shift assignments so that each guards the opponent usually guarded by the other.

10. a hairpiece consisting of a bunch or tress of long hair or some substitute, fastened together at one end and worn by women to supplement their own hair.

11. a tuft of hair at the end of the tail of some animals, as of the cow or lion.

12. Slang.

    1. (especially in BDSM) a person who is willing to take either a dominant or a submissive role in a sexual relationship.

    2. (in the LGBTQ community) a person who is willing to take either a penetrative or a receptive role in a particular sexual act, especially anal intercourse.

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verb (used with object)

• switches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• switched,
  past participle,  past
• switching
  present participle

1. to shift or exchange.

   The two girls switched their lunch boxes.

2. to turn, shift, or divert.

   to switch conversation from a painful subject.

3. Electricity. to connect, disconnect, or redirect (an electric circuit or the device it serves) by operating a switch (often followed by off oron ).

   I switched on a light.

4. Railroads.

   1. to move or transfer (a train, car, etc.) from one set of tracks to another.

   2. to drop or add (cars) or to make up (a train).

5. Movies, Television. to shift rapidly from one camera to another in order to change camera angles or shots.

6. to whip or beat with a switch or the like; lash.

   He switched the boy with a cane.

7. to move, swing, or whisk (a cane, a fishing line, etc.) with a swift, lashing stroke.

verb (used without object)

• switches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• switched,
  past participle,  past
• switching
  present participle

1. to change direction or course; turn, shift, or change.

2. to exchange or replace something with another.

   He still eats a lot of potato chips, but he's switched to a brand that's lower in salt.

3. to make a stroke or strokes with or as with a switch.

4. to move or sway back and forth, as a cat's tail.

5. to be shifted, turned, etc., by means of a switch.

6. Basketball. to execute a switch.

7. Bridge. to lead a card of a suit different from the suit just led by oneself or one's partner.

idioms

1. asleep at the switch, failing to perform one's duty, missing an opportunity, etc., because of negligence or inattention.

   He lost the contract because he was asleep at the switch.

switch British  

/ swɪtʃ /

noun

1. a mechanical, electrical, electronic, or optical device for opening or closing a circuit or for diverting energy from one part of a circuit to another

2. a swift and usually sudden shift or change

3. an exchange or swap

4. a flexible rod or twig, used esp for punishment

5. the sharp movement or blow of such an instrument

6. a tress of false hair used to give added length or bulk to a woman's own hairstyle

7. the tassel-like tip of the tail of cattle and certain other animals

8. any of various card games in which the suit is changed during play

9. a railway siding

10. a railway point

11. informal See switchboard

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verb

1. to shift, change, turn aside, or change the direction of (something)

2. to exchange (places); replace (something by something else)

   the battalions switched fronts

3. to transfer (rolling stock) from one railway track to another

4. (tr) to cause (an electric current) to start or stop flowing or to change its path by operating a switch

5. to swing or cause to swing, esp back and forth

6. (tr) to lash or whip with or as if with a switch

switch More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing switch

• asleep at the switch
• bait and switch

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• switcher
  noun
• switchable
  adjective
• switchlike
  adjective
• unswitchable
  adjective
• unswitched
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• switches
  plural

Participles

• switching
  present
• switched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• switch
  simple
• switches
  simple
• have switched
  perfect
• has switched
  perfect
• am switching
  progressive
• are switching
  progressive
• is switching
  progressive
• have been switching
  perfect progressive
• has been switching
  perfect progressive

Past

• switched
  simple
• had switched
  perfect
• was switching
  progressive
• were switching
  progressive
• had been switching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will switch
  simple
• will have switched
  perfect
• will be switching
  progressive
• will have been switching
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of switch

First recorded in 1585–95; earlier swits, switz “slender riding whip, flexible stick”; compare Low German (Hanoverian) schwutsche “long, thin stick”

Explanation

If you and your friend are seated separately on an airplane, you can always ask a stranger if they will switch seats with you. To switch is to change or exchange. Switch can be a noun or verb, and in most cases it has the meaning of change. You can switch classes, political parties, or the radio station. Sometimes if you switch something with someone, they take yours and you take theirs — as in an exchange or trade. However, there is one unrelated and frightening meaning for the word. In the olden days, a form of punishment was to be hit with a thin, flexible, piece of wood called a switch.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

switch switches switched switching

Winger Mark Nawaqanitawase - who scored two tries in Sydney's win on Sunday - is not in the squad because of his impending code switch to union with Japanese side Saitama Wild Knights.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

His son, meanwhile, was a switch hitter who could throw a bullet from shortstop to first.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

It puts me to sleep and I inevitably switch it off.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

“I switch out my pans, and I’m careful with knives and cutting boards to avoid cross contamination,” said Charlie Granquist, chef at Slough Farm.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

Mr. Lemoncello pranced across the stage to a giant cartoon version of a wall switch.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein

Once activated, the switches produce electrical pulses lasting only a few picoseconds.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

Meiqian Kuang switches seamlessly between Mandarin and English as she teaches her transitional kindergarten students at Hillcrest Elementary in Monterey Park.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

The company is proposing an architecture to replace the traditional electronic network switches that control communications between servers with all optical devices.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

For the day ahead, macro attention switches to the Bank of England’s policy decision.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

She just needed a bunch of switches, a blackboard behind her 2 x 2 e 5.

From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner

One group stayed on its usual diet for four weeks, while the other switched to a diet low in ultra-processed foods.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026

Minutes later it switched to a code used to report a hijacking, but was later turned back to the general emergency signal, the website reported.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

“I know we have switched a lot one through five over the years; that has been by necessity,” Redick said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

In its complaint, the state said investigators set up TikTok accounts posing as 13-, 14- and 15-year-olds in Alabama and switched on Restricted Mode.

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

Madison did need to come up with at least three votes on assumption—here Jefferson's account is accurate—and eventually four members switched their votes, all of them congressmen from districts bordering on the Potomac.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Nuclear receptors respond to substances such as hormones, vitamins, and lipids, then influence cell behavior by switching genes "on" and "off."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026

A late safety car caused by Alex Albon's stricken Williams led to everyone switching to fresh tyres for a four-lap dash to the flag, but again Verstappen was supreme and remained unchallenged.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

In other words, switching jobs doesn’t pay off for those workers.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

Officials also kept changing crucial elements of the design—such as switching to a closed-office from open-plan—that made the cost a moving target.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

“Every moment I work in field, I think of you,” the woman said to Papa, switching to English, weeping harder now.

From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata

Related Words

• convert
• divert
• replace
• shift
• swap
• turn
• veer