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

Indonesia is also buying more panels, though generous energy subsidies and a strict quota system give consumers little incentive to switch.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

The switch has reduced false alarms, he says.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

It’s a clever and nasty bit of social engineering — a bait and switch that preys on people’s curiosity and the simple pleasure of feeling included.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

“In New York, if you want someone to turn on a light switch, it’s a four-hour minimum call at double time. In London, we just go turn on the light switch ourselves.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Quick as a wink, the man flicked the main switch so that all the lights went off and everyone was standing in darkness.

From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket

"The light no longer merely switches the current on; it also aims it," Cundiff said.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

The brief says the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA marketplaces, canceled 250,000 unauthorized enrollments and identified 200,000 unauthorized plan switches in 2025.

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

The preliminary report published last July had said that just seconds after take-off, fuel-control switches abruptly moved to the "cut-off" position, starving the engines of fuel and triggering total power loss.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

If oil and gas become much more expensive, countries can switch to using more coal, nuclear and green sources like wind and sun, but these switches take time and are very expensive.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

He frowns and turns to Emilika, says something in German, then switches to a very broken Polish.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

The one bright spot: People who switched jobs saw an increase in pay, possibly a sign of a growing shortage of labor.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

The airline revamped its fare structure and pretty much everything else about the business model when it switched to assigned seating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Researchers examined several species of both plants and tracked thousands of genes, looking for those that became "switched on" in the right tissues at the right moment.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026

But later switched to Wenup, a semi-automated service which charged him a fixed fee of £1,600 instead.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Belet switched Kasusu from one hand to the other, her gaze darting to the big oak door.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

At the time it said that despite the scale and depth of U.S. capital markets, switching its listing or having a sponsored American depositary receipts program wouldn’t offer better value for shareholders at that time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

After switching several high schools, enduring Covid isolation during her college years and moving across the country following her first heartbreak, Isa found herself forced to adjust to living alone with no close friends.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

If she claimed survivor benefits before her full retirement age, the benefit would be permanently reduced, so the switching strategy makes sense.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

Few ballet stars make it past 40 before hanging up their pumps and switching to teaching, overcome by the immense physical, mental and artistic demands of the art form.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

“Maybe you’ll change your mind in the morning,” he says, switching off my light.

From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass

Related Words

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