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noun
1.
a slender, flexible shoot, rod, etc., used especially in whipping or disciplining.
2.
3.
a slender growing shoot, as of a plant.
4.
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.
5.
EXPANDElectricity. a device for turning on or off or directing an electric current or for making or breaking a circuit.
6.
Railroads. a track structure for diverting moving trains or rolling stock from one track to another, commonly consisting of a pair of movable rails.
7.
a turning, shifting, or changing: a switch of votes to another candidate.
8.
Bridge. a change to a suit other than the one played or bid previously.
9.
Basketball. a maneuver in which two teammates on defense shift assignments so that each guards the opponent usually guarded by the other.
10.
COLLAPSEa tuft of hair at the end of the tail of some animals, as of the cow or lion.
verb (used with object)
11.
to whip or beat with a switch or the like; lash: He switched the boy with a cane.
12.
to move, swing, or whisk (a cane, a fishing line, etc.) with a swift, lashing stroke.
13.
to shift or exchange: The two girls switched their lunch boxes.
14.
to turn, shift, or divert: to switch conversation from a painful subject.
15.
EXPANDElectricity. 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.
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Asleep at the switch
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
verb (used without object)
Idiom18.
to strike with or as with a switch.
19.
to change direction or course; turn, shift, or change.
20.
to exchange or replace something with another: He used to smoke this brand of cigarettes, but he switched.
21.
to move or sway back and forth, as a cat's tail.
22.
EXPANDto be shifted, turned, etc., by means of a switch.
23.
Basketball. to execute a switch.
24.
COLLAPSEBridge. to lead a card of a suit different from the suit just led by oneself or one's partner.
25.
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:
1585–95; earlier swits, switz slender riding whip, flexible stick; compare Low German (Hanoverian) schwutsche long, thin stick
1585–95; earlier swits, switz slender riding whip, flexible stick; compare Low German (Hanoverian) schwutsche long, thin stick
Related forms
switch·a·ble, adjective
switch·er, noun
switch·like, adjective
un·switch·a·ble, adjective
un·switched, adjective
Synonyms
7. change, shift, alternation, substitution.
7. change, shift, alternation, substitution.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To asleep at the switch
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
switch
c.1611, "to strike with a switch," from switch (n.). The meaning "turn off or on" is first recorded 1853, of trains on tracks, 1881 of electricity, 1932 of radio or (later) television. Sense of "shift, divert" is from 1860. Meaning "to change one thing for another" is recorded
EXPANDfrom 1919. Switch-hitter is 1930s in baseball slang, 1956 in the sense of "bisexual person." Switchback in ref. to zig-zag railways is recorded from 1863.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
asleep at the switch definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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switch definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
asleep at the switch
Also, asleep at the wheel. Inattentive, not doing one's job, as in At the critical moment the watchman was asleep at the switch and only called the fire department when it was too late. This term came from 19th-century American railroading, when it was the trainman's duty to switch cars from one track to another by means of manually operated levers. Should he fail to do so, trains could collide. It was later transferred to any lack of alertness. The wheel in the variant is a steering wheel; similarly disastrous results are implied.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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