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.

---

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

---

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

---

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

The completion of the parking lot would require a Port of Los Angeles master plan amendment to switch the land’s designation from open space to maritime support.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2026

For example, unlike assets such as index funds, many annuities have a surrender fee that could be triggered when transferring savings from one provider to another at the time of a job switch.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 26, 2026

Further changes came in 2004, when Fifa began allowing players to represent one country at youth level and switch to another at senior level.

From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026

“Even though you don’t at this point see an end in demand for a lot of AI optical switch gear or memory- or compute-, you know that trees don’t grow to the sky.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026

As I’m about to flip off the light switch, though, I spot something Dad made.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Related Words

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