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   Switch

   /swiCH/

   

   noun

   • 1. a device for making and breaking the connection in an electric circuit: "the guard hit a switch and the gate swung open" Similar buttonhandleleverkeycontrolcontrollerdiskdialjoystickcircuit breaker
   • ▪ a program variable which activates or deactivates a certain function of a program.
   • 2. an act of adopting one policy or way of life, or choosing one type of item, in place of another; a change, especially a radical one: "his friends were surprised at his switch from newspaper owner to farmer" Similar changechange of directionmoveshifttransitiontransformationdiversionreversalturnaroundswerveU-turnrowbackchangeovertransferconversionsubstitutionexchangeinterchangeabout-turnexchangeswaptradesubstitutioninterchangereplacementrotation
   • 3. a slender, flexible shoot cut from a tree. Similar branchtwigshootstickrod
   • 4. a junction of two railroad tracks, with a pair of linked tapering rails that can be moved laterally to allow a train to pass from one line to the other. North American
   • 5. a tress of false or detached hair tied at one end, used in hairdressing to supplement natural hair.

   verb

   • 1. change the position, direction, or focus of: "the company switched the boats to other routes" Similar changeshiftconvertdivertredirectreverseinformal:chop and change
   • ▪ adopt (something different) in place of something else; change: "she's managed to switch careers"
   • ▪ substitute (two items) for each other; exchange: "after ten minutes, listener and speaker switch roles" Similar exchangeswapinterchangetradesubstitutecause to change placesreplacerotate
   • 2. beat or flick with or as if with a switch. archaic

   Word Origin late 16th century (denoting a thin tapering riding whip): probably from Low German.

   Derivatives

   • 1. switchable adjective

   Scrabble Points: 14

   • S

     1

   • W

     4

   • I

     1

   • T

     1

   • C

     3

   • H

     4

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