switch
a turning, shifting, or changing: After the scandal there was a dramatic switch of votes to another candidate.
a slender growing shoot, as of a plant: A forked willow switch can supposedly be used to find water underground.
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.
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.
Electricity. a device for turning on or off or directing an electric current or for making or breaking a circuit.
Computers.
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.: Compare hub (def. 7).
Also called switch state·ment . (in a program or piece of code) a structure permitting a number of different actions as determined by the value of a particular expression.
Also called com·mand-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.
Railroads. a track structure for diverting moving trains or rolling stock from one track to another, commonly consisting of a pair of movable rails.
Bridge. a change to a suit other than the one played or bid previously.
Basketball. a maneuver in which two teammates on defense shift assignments so that each guards the opponent usually guarded by the other.
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.
a tuft of hair at the end of the tail of some animals, as of the cow or lion.
Slang.
(especially in BDSM) a person who is willing to take either a dominant or a submissive role in a sexual relationship.
(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.
to shift or exchange: The two girls switched their lunch boxes.
to turn, shift, or divert: to switch conversation from a painful subject.
Electricity. to connect, disconnect, or redirect (an electric circuit or the device it serves) by operating a switch (often followed by off or on): I switched on a light.
Railroads.
to move or transfer (a train, car, etc.) from one set of tracks to another.
to drop or add (cars) or to make up (a train).
Movies, Television. to shift rapidly from one camera to another in order to change camera angles or shots.
to whip or beat with a switch or the like; lash: He switched the boy with a cane.
to move, swing, or whisk (a cane, a fishing line, etc.) with a swift, lashing stroke.
to change direction or course; turn, shift, or change.
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.
to make a stroke or strokes with or as with a switch.
to move or sway back and forth, as a cat's tail.
to be shifted, turned, etc., by means of a switch.
Basketball. to execute a switch.
Bridge. to lead a card of a suit different from the suit just led by oneself or one's partner.
Idioms about switch
asleep at the switch, Informal. 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.
Origin of switch
1Other words for switch
1 | change, shift, alternation, substitution |
Other words from switch
- switch·a·ble, adjective
- switch·er, noun
- switch·like, adjective
- un·switch·a·ble, adjective
- un·switched, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use switch in a sentence
Soon afterward, Jarrell, the university’s president, released a statement saying the lab had been “planning for some time” to make the switch.
Hogan’s first batch of coronavirus tests from South Korea were flawed, never used | Steve Thompson | November 20, 2020 | Washington PostThere are caregivers who don’t have the resources for that kind of switch.
Distance learning was a disaster. So I decided to teach my daughter myself. | Tracey Lewis-Giggetts | November 19, 2020 | Washington PostIt’s almost as if Sucker Punch Studios had an on-off switch for visual upgrades, and they’ve been ready to push it this whole time.
‘Ghost of Tsushima’ sees the best kind of PlayStation 5 upgrade: transformative and free | Gene Park | November 12, 2020 | Washington PostThe switch never garnered support from lawyers or legislators.
Maine Governor Won’t Fund Reforms for Public Defense Agency Without Accountability | by Samantha Hogan, The Maine Monitor | November 11, 2020 | ProPublicaThis is a big switch, one that may lead to compatibility issues for app-makers and connected devices.
They even switched off their location service—one of the main perks of the program.
Sisi Is Persecuting, Prosecuting, and Publicly Shaming Egypt’s Gays | Bel Trew | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTPassengers were asked to make sure their phones and other devices were charged so that they could be switched on for inspection.
A Gift to the Jihadis: The Unseen Airport Security Threat | Clive Irving | December 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOne customer retooled a Nintendo Wii with its innards switched out for glued pennies.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks | M.L. Nestel | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMixing meat and dairy is a kosher rule-breaker, so they switched the cheese for potatoes.
Meet the outgoing Michigan Republican congressman who switched his vote and kept the government funded Thursday.
Quirky Reindeer Farmer Keeps Government Open for Christmas | Ben Jacobs | December 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs the car rolled on toward Manhattan's northern boundary, the woman with the green eyes switched on the radio on the dash.
We switched paint jobs at Burkey's station, see, and rolling into town that dame you sent to ride with us switched on the radio.
The light was switched off, and Bud heard the doors pulled shut, and the rattle of the padlock and chain.
Cabin Fever | B. M. Bower"Door left unlocked—the ignorant hound—Good thing I don't trust him too far—" Some one came fumbling in and switched on the light.
Cabin Fever | B. M. BowerAt the same moment the blinds in the dining-room were pulled down by the countess herself, and the lights switched off.
The Weight of the Crown | Fred M. White
British Dictionary definitions for switch
/ (swɪtʃ) /
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
a swift and usually sudden shift or change
an exchange or swap
a flexible rod or twig, used esp for punishment
the sharp movement or blow of such an instrument
a tress of false hair used to give added length or bulk to a woman's own hairstyle
the tassel-like tip of the tail of cattle and certain other animals
any of various card games in which the suit is changed during play
US and Canadian a railway siding
US and Canadian a railway point
Australian informal See switchboard
to shift, change, turn aside, or change the direction of (something)
to exchange (places); replace (something by something else): the battalions switched fronts
mainly US and Canadian to transfer (rolling stock) from one railway track to another
(tr) to cause (an electric current) to start or stop flowing or to change its path by operating a switch
to swing or cause to swing, esp back and forth
(tr) to lash or whip with or as if with a switch
Origin of switch
1- See also switch off, switch on
Derived forms of switch
- switcher, noun
- switchlike, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with switch
In addition to the idioms beginning with switch
- switch off
- switch on
also see:
- asleep at the switch
- bait and switch
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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