1. Change over, change around, as to a new order or sequence
   "We need to switch over to the new system by next week";
   - switch over, exchange
    
2. Make a shift in or exchange of
   "First Joe led; then we switched";
   - change over, shift
    
3. Exchange or give (something) in exchange for
   "They switched phone numbers at the end of the party";
   - trade, swap, swop
    
4. Lay aside, abandon, or leave for another
   "switch to a different brand of beer"; "She switched psychiatrists";
   - shift, change
    
5. Cause to go on or to be engaged or set in operation
   "switch on the light";
   - throw, flip
    
6. Flog with or as if with a flexible rod
   "The teacher switched the misbehaving student in the old-fashioned school"

1. Control consisting of a mechanical or electrical or electronic device for making or breaking or changing the connections in a circuit
   "He flipped the electric switch to turn on the lights";
   - electric switch, electrical switch
    
2. The act of changing one thing or position for another
   "his switch on abortion cost him the election";
   - switching, shift
    
3. An event in which one thing is substituted for another
   "The accidental switch caused confusion";
   - substitution, permutation, transposition, replacement
    
4. [N. Amer] Railway track having two movable rails and necessary connections; used to turn a train from one track to another or to store rolling stock
   "The train switched to a different line at the switch";
   - points
    
5. A basketball manoeuvre; two defensive players shift assignments so that each guards the player usually guarded by the other
   "The team's quick switch confused the offence and led to a turnover"
    
6. A flexible implement used as an instrument of punishment
   "In the old days, teachers sometimes used a switch to discipline unruly students"
    
7. Hairpiece consisting of a tress of false hair; used by women to give shape to a coiffure
   "The actress attached a long switch to create an elaborate updo"

Derived forms: switching, switched, switches

Type of: abandon, alter, basketball play, change, control, controller, engage, exchange, false hair, flog, fluctuation, hairpiece, instrument of punishment, interchange, lash, lather, lock, mesh, modify, operate, postiche, railroad [N. Amer], railroad track [N. Amer], railway [Brit, Cdn], railway track [Brit, Cdn], reverse, slash, strap, trounce, turn, variation, welt, whale [N. Amer, informal], whip

Encyclopedia: Switch, india's first campus channel