SWITCH • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Switch

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/swɪtʃ/ Listen

Switch

noun

1.

Control consisting of a mechanical or electrical or electronic device for making or breaking or changing the connections in a circuit. Synonyms: electric switch, electrical switch.

2.

An event in which one thing is substituted for another. Synonyms: permutation, replacement, substitution, transposition.

3.

Hairpiece consisting of a tress of false hair; used by women to give shape to a coiffure.

4.

Railroad track having two movable rails and necessary connections; used to turn a train from one track to another or to store rolling stock.

5.

A flexible implement used as an instrument of punishment.

6.

A basketball maneuver; two defensive players shift assignments so that each guards the player usually guarded by the other.

7.

The act of changing one thing or position for another. Synonyms: shift, switching.

verb

(past & past part. switched; pres. part. switching)

1.

Change over, change around, as to a new order or sequence. Synonyms: exchange, switch over.

2.

Exchange or give (something) in exchange for. Synonyms: swap, swop, trade.

3.

Lay aside, abandon, or leave for another. Synonyms: change, shift. "She switched psychiatrists" , "The car changed lanes"

4.

Make a shift in or exchange of. Synonyms: change over, shift.

5.

Cause to go on or to be engaged or set in operation. Synonyms: flip, throw. "Throw the lever"

6.

Flog with or as if with a flexible rod.

7.

Reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action). Synonyms: alternate, flip, flip-flop, interchange, tack.

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Etymology of 'Switch'

Related searches:

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three-way switch

WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Switch" Quotes from Famous Books

... operate it with a thrusting movement of my chin, was a toggle switch. I snapped it over, and heard Mercer's voice: "—n't forget everything ...

— Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930 • Various

... in her berth, felt a cold thrill rush down her back. No sound came from the berth on the other side any more than before the raid on it, and Anna-Rose returned quicker than she had gone. She just stopped on the way to switch off the light, and then felt along the edge of Anna-Felicitas's berth till she got to her head, and pulling it near her by its left pigtail whispered with her mouth close to its left ear, "Wide awake. Watching me all the time. Not ...

— Christopher and Columbus • Countess Elizabeth Von Arnim

... "No, not yet. But I have only to touch this other switch, and I could produce an effect in that room that would rival the famous writing on Belshazzar's wall—only it would be a voice from the wall ...

— Masterpieces of Mystery In Four Volumes - Detective Stories • Various

... assured me. "We can certainly get at the truth better than an outsider who doesn't know any of the facts. You switch off the old gentleman from putting it in the hands of the police and everything ...

— The Four Pools Mystery • Jean Webster

... halted mass of cars and cargo carriers east of the wreck. He flipped a switch that cut his helmet transmitter into the remote standard vehicular radio circuit ...

— Code Three • Rick Raphael

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