Definition of "switch"

switch

/swɪt͡ʃ/

noun
plural switches
1. A device to turn electric current on and off or direct its flow.
2. A change or exchange.
  Quotations
  Wenger sent on Cesc Fabregas and Van Persie to try to finish Leeds off and with 14 minutes left the switch paid off as the Spaniard sent Bendtner away down the right and his wonderful curling cross was headed in by Van Persie at the far post.
  2011 January 19, Jonathan Stevenson, “Leeds 1 - 3 Arsenal”, in BBC‎
3. (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.
4. A slender woody plant stem used as a whip; a thin, flexible rod, associated with corporal punishment in the United States.
  Quotations
  Their mother would walk out into the yard and cut a switch from a tree and beat him—beat him, it seemed to Florence, until any other boy would have fallen down dead; […]
  1953, James Baldwin, “Florence's Prayer”, in Go Tell It on the Mountain (Penguin Classics), London: Penguin Books, published 2001
  "A proper switch is a slim, flexible branch off a tree or a bush. A switch applied to the buttocks stings fiercely. It may leave red marks or bruises, but it causes no lasting damage.."
  2007, Jeffrey W. Hamilton, Raising Godly Children in a Wicked World, Lulu.com, page 15
5. (music) Synonym of rute.
6. (computer science) A command line notation allowing specification of optional behavior.
7. (computing, programming) A programming construct that takes different actions depending on the value of an expression.
  Quotations
  2004, Curt, “Can I use IF statements, and still use switches?”, in microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields (Usenet)
8. (computing, networking) 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. (telecommunications) 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. (genetics) A mechanism within DNA that activates or deactivates a gene.
11. (BDSM) One who is willing to take either a submissive or a dominant role in a sexual relationship.
  Quotations
  Ideally, if one of your ladies happens to be a switch (or would be willing to switch for this scene), I would love to be able to inflict a little "revenge tickling" as well, as part of a scenario.
  2012, Terri-Jean Bedford, Bondage Bungalow Fantasies, page 99
12. (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.
13. (card games) A variant of crazy eights where one card, such as an ace, reverses the direction of play.
verb
third-person singular simple present switches, present participle switching, simple past and past participle switched
1. (transitive) To exchange.
  Quotations
  A “moving platform” scheme […] is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.
  2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly)
2. (transitive) To change (something) to the specified state using a switch.
3. (transitive, in modern times Southern US) To whip or hit with a switch.
  Quotations
  They were looking on the ground, absorbed in thought. The manager was switching his leg with a slender twig: his sagacious relative lifted his head.
  1899 March, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number MI, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], part II
4. (intransitive) To change places, tasks, etc.
5. (slang, intransitive) To get angry suddenly; to quickly or unreasonably become enraged.
6. To swing or whisk.
7. To be swung or whisked.
8. To trim.
  Quotations
  Switch and clip thorn and other deciduous hedges.
  1811, Walter Nicol, The Planters Kalendar
9. To turn from one railway track to another; to transfer by a switch; generally with off, from, etc.
10. (ecclesiastical) To shift to another circuit.
11. (intransitive) To take on the opposite role (leader vs. follower) in a partner dance.
  Quotations
  Feel free to ask her to follow, lead, or switch!
  2023 February 18 (last accessed), “Heather Lombardi”, in The Dancing Fools‎
adjective
not comparable
1. (snowboarding) Pertaining to riding with the front and back feet swapped round compared to one's normal position.
2. (freestyle skiing) Pertaining to skiing backwards.