Switch Definition–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.<
d52
/td> | 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. | |
