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.
Liverpool City Council leader Liam Robinson said the big switch-on was "an opportunity to show that hate will never win in our communities".
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2024
The market's opening day coincided with the Belfast Christmas lights switch-on, with a number of roads in the city centre closed.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2024
The switch-on is cancelled, the start of late-night shopping delayed for a week.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2023
Hundreds of people headed to a North Yorkshire town's seafront to see the light switch-on of its "fishtive" Christmas tree.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2022
Designer and TV star Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has stepped in to take charge of turning on Blackpool Illuminations, after comic Johnny Vegas had to put out of the switch-on ceremony.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2022
How he's still able to keep himself conditioned physically, and switch on mentally to play a five-setter like this, is astonishing - especially given how little tennis he has been playing outside of the Slams.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
“We’re not pulling a bait and switch on you,” Hoover told The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine—When Elon Musk flipped the off switch on Russian forces’ Starlink internet connections in February, Ukraine’s military went on the offensive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 21, 2026
For example, a protein might briefly activate, then turn off, and later switch on again.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 9, 2026
Sometimes Brave Orchid would switch on the lights, calling her sister’s name all the while.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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.
