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switch

 - 10 dictionary results

switch

  [swich] ,
Use switch in a Sentence
–noun
1. a slender, flexible shoot, rod, etc., used esp. in whipping or disciplining.
2. an act of whipping or beating with or as with such an object; a stroke, lash, or whisking movement.
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. Electricity. 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. a 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. Electricity. to connect, disconnect, or redirect (an electric circuit or the device it serves) by operating a switch (often fol. by off or on): I switched on a light.
16. Railroads.
a. to move or transfer (a train, car, etc.) from one set of tracks to another.
b. to drop or add (cars) or to make up (a train).
17. Movies, Television. to shift rapidly from one camera to another in order to change camera angles or shots.
–verb (used without object)
18. 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. to be shifted, turned, etc., by means of a switch.
23. Basketball. to execute a switch.
24. Bridge. to lead a card of a suit different from the suit just led by oneself or one's partner.
—Idiom
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; cf. LG (Hanoverian) schwutsche long, thin stick

Related forms:
switch⋅a⋅ble, adjective
switcher, noun
switchlike, adjective

Synonyms:
7. change, shift, alternation, substitution.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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switch   (swĭch)   
n.  

  1. A slender flexible rod, stick, or twig, especially one used for whipping.

  2. The bushy tip of the tail of certain animals: a cow's switch.

  3. A thick strand of real or synthetic hair used as part of a coiffure.

  4. A flailing or lashing, as with a slender rod.

  5. A device used to break or open an electric circuit or to divert current from one conductor to another.

  6. A device consisting of two sections of railroad track and accompanying apparatus used to transfer rolling stock from one track to another.

    1. The act or process of operating a switching device.

    2. The result achieved by such an act.

  8. An exchange or a swap, especially one done secretly.

  9. A transference or shift, as of opinion or attention.

v.   switched, switch·ing, switch·es

v.   tr.

  1. Chiefly Southern U.S. To whip with or as if with a switch, especially in punishing a child.

  2. To jerk or swish abruptly or sharply: a cat switching its tail.

  3. To shift, transfer, or divert: switched the conversation to a lighter subject.

  4. To exchange: asked her brother to switch seats with her.

  5. To connect, disconnect, or divert (an electric current) by operating a switch.

  6. To cause (an electric current or appliance) to begin or cease operation: switched the lights on and off.

  7. Informal To produce as if by operating a control. Often used with on: switched on the charm.

  8. To move (rolling stock) from one track to another; shunt.

v.   intr.

  1. To make or undergo a shift or an exchange: The office has switched to shorter summer hours.

  2. To swish sharply from side to side.

Phrasal Verb(s):
switch off Informal To stop paying attention; lose interest.

[Probably of Low German or Flemish origin.]
switch'a·ble adj., switch'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
switch

  1. n.
    a switchblade knife. (The folding pocket knife springs open when a button is pushed.) : They found a switch in his pocket when they searched him.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

switch  (n.)
1592, "slender riding whip," probably from a Flemish or Low German word akin to Hanoverian swutsche, a variant of Low Ger. zwukse "long thin stick, switch," from Gmc. base *swih- (cf. O.H.G. zwec "wooden peg," Ger. Zweck "aim, design," originally "peg as a target," Zwick "wooden peg"), perhaps connected with PIE base *swei- "to swing, bend, to turn." The meaning "device for changing the direction of something or making or breaking a connection" is first recorded 1797. "The peg sense suits the mech(anical) applications" [Weekley], and these senses may be a direct borrowing from those senses in Continantal Gmc. languages rather than a continuation of the "pliant wand" sense. The meaning "a change, a reversal, an exchange, a substitution" is first recorded 1920. Switchblade dates from 1932, from the "switch" which is pressed to spring the knife open. Switchboard first attested 1884.

switch  (v.)
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 from 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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

Switch

A futures-trading strategy involving the offset of one contract with entry into another position that has nearly identical details but a longer expiration. Commonly referred to as a "roll forward".

Investopedia Commentary

A switch is used by investors wishing to maintain their current positions in contracts that are nearing expiry.

For example, let's say that it is currently Jan 2004, and an energy company that will have 100,000 barrels of oil to sell in Jun 2006 wants to hedge its position. However, the company does not simply buy the Jul 2006 oil futures contract because the company deems this contract too illiquid. It requires a contract to have a delivery period of no more than 13 months in advance. A possible hedging strategy for the company is to short the appropriate number of Jul 2005 contracts, in Jun 2005, close out the Jul 2005 position, and then switch to the Jul 2006 contract.

Related Links

Futures Fundamentals

See also: Expiration Date, Futures Contract, Hedge, Position, Roll Forward

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
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Financial Dictionary

switch

  1. See swap.

  2. To move funds out of one mutual fund and into another mutual fund. See also telephone switching.


Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Computing Dictionary

switch
1. switch statement.
2. command line option.
3. packet switch, circuit switch.
(1999-01-14)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

switch

In addition to the idioms beginning with switch, also see asleep at the switch; bait and switch.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia

switch

device for opening and closing electrical circuits under normal load conditions, usually operated manually. There are many designs of switches; a common type-the toggle, or tumbler, switch-is widely used in home lighting and other applications. The so-called mercury, or "silent," switch is used extensively for controlling home lighting circuits. The oil switch has its live parts immersed in oil to reduce arcing. The aggregate of switching or circuit-breaking equipment for a power station or a transforming station, frequently located in an outdoor yard (switchyard) beside the station, is usually regarded as switchgear.

Learn more about switch with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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