English Explanatory Dictionary

switch

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A device to turn electric current on and off or direct its flow.
  2. A change or exchange.
  3. A movable section of railroad track which allows the train to be directed down one of two destination tracks; (set of) points.
  4. A long, slender woody plant stem or a flexible, thin rod used as a whip to administer corporal punishment in the United States.
  5. Synonym of rute.
  6. A command line notation allowing specification of optional behavior.
  7. A programming construct that takes different actions depending on the value of an expression.
  8. A networking device connecting multiple wires, allowing them to communicate simultaneously, when possible. Compare to the less efficient hub device that solely duplicates network packets to each wire.
  9. A system of specialized relays, computer hardware, or other equipment which allows the interconnection of a calling party's telephone line with any called party's line.
  10. A mechanism within DNA that activates or deactivates a gene.
  11. One who is willing to take either a submissive or a dominant role in a sexual relationship.
  12. A separate mass or tress of hair, or of some substance (such as jute) made to resemble hair, formerly worn on the head by women.
verb
  1. To exchange.
  2. To change (something) to the specified state using a switch.
  3. To whip or hit with a switch.
  4. To change places, tasks, etc.
  5. To get angry suddenly; to quickly or unreasonably become enraged.
  6. To swing or whisk.
  7. To be swung or whisked.
  8. To trim.
  9. To turn from one railway track to another; to transfer by a switch; generally with off, from, etc.
  10. To shift to another circuit.
  11. To take on the opposite role (leader vs. follower) in a partner dance.
  12. To move (the ball or equivalent) from one side of the playing area to the other.
adj
  1. Pertaining to riding with the front and back feet swapped round compared to one's normal position.
  2. Pertaining to skiing backwards.
noun
  1. Ellipsis of Nintendo Switch.

Pronunciation

swĭch /swɪt͡ʃ/ en-us-switch.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Switch.wav

Word forms

switch switches switching switched

Etymology

Perhaps from Middle Dutch swijch (“twig”), first attested in c. 1592. The mechanical device for altering the direction of something sense is first attested in c. 1797, pertaining to pivoted rails on minecart railways, which were once wooden.

Synonyms

points crop rute flag option specifier Glock switch swap commute counterchange exchange replace shift substitute switch transpose interchange

Antonyms

abide endure last remain stay

Related words

reciprocate switch off switch on Switch 2

Derived words

antenna switch antiswitch arrow switch asleep at the switch bait and switch bait-and-switch baroswitch big red switch big switch bitch switch blab-off switch chicken switch circuit switched core switch crossbar switch dead man's switch dimmer switch dipswitch DIP switch double switch footswitch Glock switch hat switch hookswitch hook switch hot switch intermediate switch jackknife switch keyswitch mercury switch microswitch multiway switching nanoswitch nonswitch on-off switch optical switch phosphoswitch photoswitch pickle switch polyswitch public switched Q-switch railroad switch replacing switch RF switch matrix sleeping at the switch split switch Strowger switch subswitch switch access switchback switchblade switchboard switch box switchbox switch cane switch dealing switch engine switcheroo switchfoot

Translations

Belarusian: камута́тар Bulgarian: комута́тор Catalan: centraleta Finnish: puhelinkeskus Finnish: puhelinvaihde Finnish: vaihde Finnish: keskus French: commutateur Italian: centralino Macedonian: развод Norwegian Bokmål: sentral Polish: switch Portuguese: central telefónica Portuguese: central telefônica Romanian: centrală Romanian: comutator Romanian: selector Russian: коммута́тор Serbo-Croatian: скло̏пка Serbo-Croatian: sklȍpka Swedish: växel Ukrainian: комута́тор Uzbek: xivchin Vietnamese: chuyển mạch Welsh: switsh
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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