SWITCH


Meaning of SWITCH in English

(~es, ~ing, ~ed)

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.

1.

A ~ is a small control for an electrical device which you use to turn the device on or off.

Leona put some detergent into the dishwasher, shut the door and pressed the ~.

...a light ~.

N-COUNT

2.

If you ~ to something different, for example to a different system, task, or subject of conversation, you change to it from what you were doing or saying before.

Estonia is ~ing to a market economy...

The law would encourage companies to ~ from coal to cleaner fuels...

The encouragement of a friend spurred Chris into ~ing jobs.

= change

VERB: V to n, V from n to n, V pl-n

Switch is also a noun.

New technology made a ~ to oil possible...

The spokesman implicitly condemned the United States policy ~.

N-COUNT: usu with supp

Switch over means the same as ~ .

...a professional man who started out in law but ~ed over to medicine.

PHRASAL VERB: V P to n

3.

If you ~ your attention from one thing to another or if your attention ~es, you stop paying attention to the first thing and start paying attention to the second.

My mother’s interest had ~ed to my health...

As the era wore on, she ~ed her attention to films.

VERB: V to n, V n to n

4.

If you ~ two things, you replace one with the other.

In half an hour, they’d ~ed the tags on every cable...

The ballot boxes have been ~ed.

= swap

VERB: V pl-n, V pl-n

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .