Definition of: switch

(swich) noun
1. A small flexible rod; light whip.
2. A tress of human or false hair, fastened together at one end and used by women in building a coiffure.
3. A mechanism for shifting a railway train or other rail vehicles from one track to another.
4. The act or operation of switching, shifting, or changing.
5. The end of the tail in certain animals, as a cow.
6. Electr. A device to make or break a circuit, or transfer a current from one conductor to another.
7. A connecting trench between two lines of defensive trenches.
8. A blow with a switch. See synonyms under STICK.
—v.t.
1. To whip or lash with or as with a switch.
2. To move, jerk, or whisk suddenly or sharply: The woman switched her skirts aside.
3. To turn aside or divert; shift.
4. To exchange: They switched plates.
5. To shift, as a railroad car, to another track.
6. Electr. To connect or disconnect with a switch.
—v.i.
7. To turn aside; change; shift.
8. To be shifted or turned.
9. Dial. To walk with a jerky or uneven gait. [Earlier swits. Akin to LG zwuske a thin rod.]