switch, switching, shift
(noun) the act of changing one thing or position for another; “his switch on abortion cost him the election”
switch
(noun) a basketball maneuver; two defensive players shift assignments so that each guards the player usually guarded by the other
switch
(noun) a flexible implement used as an instrument of punishment
switch, electric switch, electrical switch
(noun) control consisting of a mechanical or electrical or electronic device for making or breaking or changing the connections in a circuit
switch
(noun) railroad track having two movable rails and necessary connections; used to turn a train from one track to another or to store rolling stock
switch
(noun) hairpiece consisting of a tress of false hair; used by women to give shape to a coiffure
substitution, permutation, transposition, replacement, switch
(noun) an event in which one thing is substituted for another; “the replacement of lost blood by a transfusion of donor blood”
interchange, tack, switch, alternate, flip, flip-flop
(verb) reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action)
switch, change over, shift
(verb) make a shift in or exchange of; “First Joe led; then we switched”
switch, shift, change
(verb) lay aside, abandon, or leave for another; “switch to a different brand of beer”; “She switched psychiatrists”; “The car changed lanes”
switch
(verb) flog with or as if with a flexible rod
throw, flip, switch
(verb) cause to go on or to be engaged or set in operation; “switch on the light”; “throw the lever”
trade, swap, swop, switch
(verb) exchange or give (something) in exchange for
Source: WordNet® 3.1
switch (plural switches)
A device to turn electric current on and off or direct its flow.
A change or exchange.
(rail transport, US) A movable section of railroad track which allows the train to be directed down one of two destination tracks; (set of) points.
A slender woody plant stem used as a whip; a thin, flexible rod, associated with corporal punishment in the United States.
(musical instruments) synonym of rute.
(computer science) A command line notation allowing specification of optional behavior.
(computing, programming) A programming construct that takes different actions depending on the value of an expression.
(telecommunication) 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.
(genetics) A mechanism within DNA that activates or deactivates a gene.
(BDSM) One who is willing to take either a submissive or a dominant role in a sexual relationship.
(historical) 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.
• (section of railroad track): (UK) points
• (whip): crop
• (command-line notation): flag, option, specifier
• analogue switch
• digital switch
• dipswitch
• disconnect switch
• float switch
• footswitch
• key switch
• knife switch
• limit switch
• mercury tilt switch
• microswitch
• network switch
• pressure switch
• railway switch
• reed switch
• reversing switch
• sail switch
• telecommunications switch
• touch switch
• vandal resistant switch
• wireless light switch
• centrifugal switch
• company switch
• double pole, double throw switch
• man's switch
• fireman's switch
• hall-effect switch
• inertial switch
• isolator switch
• kill switch
• light switch
• latching switch
• load control switch
• membrane switch
• piezo switch
• pull switch
• push switch
• sense switch
• slotted optical switch
• stepping switch
• thermal switch
• three-way switch
• four-way switch
• time switch
• transfer switch
• wall-mounted switch
• zero speed switch
switch (third-person singular simple present switches, present participle switching, simple past and past participle switched)
(transitive) To exchange.
(transitive) To change (something) to the specified state using a switch.
(transitive) To whip or hit with a switch.
(intransitive) To change places, tasks, etc.
(slang, intransitive) To get angry suddenly; to quickly or unreasonably become enraged.
To swing or whisk.
To be swung or whisked.
To trim.
To turn from one railway track to another; to transfer by a switch; generally with off, from, etc.
(ecclesiastical) To shift to another circuit.
• (to exchange): interchange, swap; See also switch
switch (not comparable)
(snowboarding) Pertaining to riding with the front and back feet swapped round compared to one's normal position.
(freestyle skiing) Pertaining to skiing backwards.
(snowboarding)
• goofy
• regular
Switch (plural Switches)
(video games) Short for Nintendo Switch.
Source: Wiktionary
Switch, n. Etym: [Cf. OD. swick a scourage, a whip. Cf. Swink, Swing.]
1. A small, flexible twig or rod. Mauritania, on the fifth medal, leads a horse with something like a thread; in her other hand she holds a switch. Addison.
2. (Railways)
Definition: A movable part of a rail; or of opposite rails, for transferring cars from one track to another.
3. A separate mass or trees of hair, or of some substance (at jute) made to resemble hair, worn on the head by women.
4. (Eccl.)
Definition: A mechanical device for shifting an electric current to another circuit. Safety switch (Railways), a form of switch contrived to prevent or lessen the danger of derailment of trains.
– Switch back (Railways), an arrangement of tracks whereby elevations otherwise insurmountable are passed. The track ascends by a series of zigzags, the engine running alternately forward and back, until the summit is reached.
– Switch board (Elec.), a collection of switches in one piece of apparatus, so arranged that a number of circuits may be connected or combined in any desired manner.
– Switch grass. (Bot.) See under Grass.
Switch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Switched; p. pr. & vb. n. Switching.]
1. To strike with a switch or small flexible rod; to whip. Chapman.
2. To swing or whisk; as, to switch a cane.
3. To trim, as, a hedge. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
4. To turn from one railway track to another; to transfer by a switch; -- generally with off, from, etc.; as, to switch off a train; to switch a car from one track to another.
5. (Eccl.)
Definition: To shift to another circuit.
Switch, v. i.
Definition: To walk with a jerk. [Prov. Eng.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
24 May 2025
(adjective) sufficiently significant to affect the whole world; “earthshaking proposals”; “the contest was no world-shaking affair”; “the conversation...could hardly be called world-shattering”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
