Switch - English meaning

noun

A change of direction

Usage examples:

Do an about-turn the dog did an about-turn and ran when it saw the bigger dog., make an about-turn …

noun

A part of a tree which grows out from the trunk or from a bough.

Usage examples:

Sophie was in the branches of a tree eating an apple

verb

(of a road or path) divide into one or more subdivisions.

Usage examples:

Follow this track south until it branches into two

noun

A part of something larger

Usage examples:

Branch of immunology is a branch of biological science., one branch of their family (= one group of…

noun

A small disc or knob sewn on to a garment, either to fasten it by being pushed through a slit made for the purpose or for decoration.

Usage examples:

At this stage, they'll also check your garments for slits, broken buttons or zippers, and any other…

verb

Fasten (clothing) with buttons.

Usage examples:

I buttoned my shirt and knotted my tie

noun

A small, usually circular object that is sewn on a shirt, coat, or other piece of clothing, and is used to fasten it

Usage examples:

When you pay the admission fee at the museum, they give you a button to wear to show you’ve paid., …

verb

Make (someone or something) different; alter or modify.

Usage examples:

Both parties voted against proposals to change the law

noun

An act or process through which something becomes different.

Usage examples:

The change from a nomadic to an agricultural society

verb

To exchange one thing for another thing, especially of a similar type

Usage examples:

Change jobs she's just changed jobs., change the subject let's change the subject (= talk about som…

noun

A change from one system or situation to another.

Usage examples:

The changeover from handicraft to mechanized manufacture

noun

A complete change from one system or method to another

Usage examples:

The changeover to the new taxation system has created a lot of problems.

noun

In sports such as tennis, the time when players have a short rest before changing to the other end of the court (= playing area) in between games

Usage examples:

During changeovers, she would refer to notes she had written to herself., on the changeover, he wal…

idiom

To keep changing your ideas, opinions, activities, or job

Usage examples:

After six months of chopping and changing, we've decided to go back to our old system.

noun

The power to influence or direct people's behaviour or the course of events.

Usage examples:

The whole operation is under the control of a production manager

verb

Determine the behaviour or supervise the running of.

Usage examples:

He was appointed to control the company's marketing strategy

verb

Power to direct or determine

noun

A person or thing that directs or regulates something.

Usage examples:

The controller of bbc television programmes

noun

A device used to operate or control a machine, a computer game, etc.

Usage examples:

Moving my body made me feel more immersed in the game than if i had just been pressing buttons on a…

noun

A person who controls something, or someone who is responsible for what a particular organization does

Usage examples:

An air-traffic controller, that was the year he became controller of radio 4.

noun

The process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another.

Usage examples:

The conversion of food into body tissues

noun

The process of changing from one type of system or organization to another

Usage examples:

Currency conversions, conversion into sth the conversion of euros into us dollars, conversion (from…

noun

The process of converting something from one thing to another

Usage examples:

Conversion of something into something solar power is the conversion of the sun's energy into heat …

verb

Change the form, character, or function of something.

Usage examples:

Modernization has converted the country from a primitive society to a near-industrial one

noun

A person who has been persuaded to change their religious faith or other belief.

Usage examples:

He is a recent convert to the church

verb

To change the character, appearance, or operation of something

Usage examples:

[ t ] we converted our oil furnace to gas to save money., [ i ] most of the families in the communi…

noun

A face of a clock or watch that is marked to show units of time.

Usage examples:

The dial on your dive watch would send a geiger counter into cardiac arrest.

verb

Call (a phone number) by turning a dial or using a keypad or touchscreen.

Usage examples:

She dialled 999

verb

To operate a phone or make a phone call to someone by choosing a particular series of numbers on the phone

Usage examples:

Dial someone/something direct can i dial this number direct, or do i have to go through the operato…

noun

A flat, thin circular object.

Usage examples:

Coins were made by striking a blank disc of metal

noun

A circular flat object

Usage examples:

The dog's name was engraved on a little metal disc attached to its collar.

noun

A musical record or a compact disc

Usage examples:

She hopes to top the charts again with her third studio disc., a dvd is a five-inch disc that plays…

noun

The action of turning something aside from its course.

Usage examples:

The diversion of resources from defence to civil research

noun

The act of causing something or someone to turn in a different direction, or to be used for a different purpose

Usage examples:

[ u ] a snowstorm closed the airport, and the diversion of air traffic was therefore necessary., [ …

noun

The act of using something in a different way from what was originally planned

Usage examples:

There has been a diversion of resources away from new infrastructure projects., it is difficult for…

verb

Cause (someone or something) to change course or turn from one direction to another.

Usage examples:

A scheme to divert water from the river to irrigate agricultural land

verb

Turn aside; turn away from

verb

To cause something or someone to turn in a different direction

Usage examples:

Our flight was diverted from san francisco to oakland because of the fog., the administration had t…

noun

An act of giving one thing and receiving another (especially of the same kind) in return.

Usage examples:

Negotiations should lead to an exchange of land for peace

verb

Short for telephone exchange.

verb

To change something for something else of a similar value or type

Usage examples:

This shirt is too small – can i exchange it for one in a larger size?, before we left the meeting, …

verb

Feel or manipulate with the hands.

Usage examples:

Heavy paving slabs can be difficult to handle

noun

The part by which a thing is held, carried, or controlled.

Usage examples:

A holdall with two carrying handles

verb

Touch, lift, or hold

verb

(of two or more people) exchange (things) with each other.

Usage examples:

Superior and subordinates freely interchange information

noun

The action of interchanging people or things.

Usage examples:

The interchange of ideas

verb

Cause to change places

noun

The control column of an aircraft.

Usage examples:

The pilot controls direction with a joystick in one hand and speed with a slider in the other

noun

A device that can be moved forwards, backwards, and sideways to control a machine or computer game

Usage examples:

It was one of those old-fashioned arcade games with two joysticks and big buttons., he moves a joys…

noun

A vertical handle that can be moved forwards, backwards, and sideways to control the direction or height of an aircraft

Usage examples:

The pilot gripped the joystick, pulling it back as hard as he could.

noun

A small piece of shaped metal with incisions cut to fit the wards of a particular lock, which is inserted into a lock and turned to open or close it.

Usage examples:

There were two keys to the cupboard

adjective

Of crucial importance.

Usage examples:

She became a key figure in the suffragette movement

verb

Enter or operate on (data) by means of a computer keyboard or telephone keypad.

Usage examples:

Not everyone can key data quickly and accurately

noun

A rigid bar resting on a pivot, used to move a heavy or firmly fixed load with one end when pressure is applied to the other.

Usage examples:

A tyre lever

verb

Lift or move with a lever.

Usage examples:

She levered the lid off the pot with a screwdriver

noun

A handle that you move to control the operation of a machine

Usage examples:

He pushed the lever into the "on" position and started the machine.

verb

Go in a specified direction or manner; change position.

Usage examples:

She moved to the door

noun

A change of place, position, or state.

Usage examples:

She made a sudden move towards me

verb

Change location

verb

Direct (something) to a new or different place or purpose.

Usage examples:

Get the post office to redirect your mail

noun

An instance of redirecting something from one address to another, such as an email or a url for a web page.

Usage examples:

When you're in australia entering google.com into your browser will usually result in a redirect to…

verb

To use money, assets, etc. for a different purpose from the one they were originally intended for

Usage examples:

Redirect sth (from sth) to sth cost savings have allowed companies to redirect resources to other p…

noun

A change to an opposite direction, position, or course of action.

Usage examples:

A dramatic reversal in population decline in the alps

verb

Move backwards.

Usage examples:

The lorry reversed into the back of a bus

adjective

Going in or turned towards the direction opposite to that previously stated.

Usage examples:

The trend appears to be going in the reverse direction

noun

A complete change of direction or action.

Usage examples:

The gall actuates a reverse of photosynthesis

noun

A thin straight bar, especially of wood or metal.

Usage examples:

Concrete walls reinforced with steel rods

noun

A long, thin pole made of wood, metal, or other material

Usage examples:

A fishing/curtain rod

verb

Move or cause to move from one place to another, especially over a small distance.

Usage examples:

A team from the power company came to shift the cables away from the house

noun

A slight change in position, direction, or tendency.

Usage examples:

A shift in public opinion

verb

Move very slightly

verb

Kill or wound (a person or animal) with a bullet or arrow.

Usage examples:

He was shot in the leg during an armed robbery

noun

A young branch or sucker springing from the main stock of a tree or other plant.

Usage examples:

He nipped off the new shoots that grew where the leaves joined the stems

exclamation

Variant spelling of chute1.

noun

A thin piece of wood that has fallen or been cut off a tree.

Usage examples:

Hayes picked up a fallen stick and twirled it idly between his fingers.

verb

Push a sharp or pointed object into or through (something).

Usage examples:

He stuck his fork into the sausage

verb

A long thin implement resembling a length of wood

noun

The action of replacing someone or something with another person or thing.

Usage examples:

The substitution of rail services with buses

verb

Change or cause to change direction abruptly.

Usage examples:

A lorry swerved across her path

noun

An abrupt change of direction.

Usage examples:

Do not make sudden swerves, particularly around parked vehicles

verb

Turn sharply; change direction abruptly

verb

Move from one place to another.

Usage examples:

He intends to transfer the fund's assets to the treasury

noun

An act of moving something or someone to another place, organization, team, etc.

Usage examples:

A transfer of wealth to the eu's poorer nations

verb

Move from one place to another

noun

A marked change in form, nature, or appearance.

Usage examples:

British society underwent a radical transformation

noun

A complete change in the appearance or character of something or someone

Usage examples:

[ c ] this plan means a complete transformation of our organization.

noun

The process of changing completely the character or appearance of something in order to improve it

Usage examples:

Thanks to senior management's commitment to modifying planning infrastructures and processs, the co…

noun

The process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.

Usage examples:

Students in transition from one programme to another

verb

Undergo or cause to undergo a process or period of transition.

Usage examples:

He transitioned into filmmaking easily

noun

The process of changing, or a change from one form or condition to another

Usage examples:

[ u ] it was a neighborhood in transition from jewish to italian with a sprinkling of irish., [ c ]…

noun

An abrupt or unexpected change, especially one that results in a more favourable situation.

Usage examples:

It was a remarkable turnaround in his fortunes

noun

A positive change; improvement

Usage examples:

Business was up over 40% in a dramatic turnaround from last year.

noun

The amount of time that it takes for a piece of work to be done, a product to be supplied, etc.

Usage examples:

Management examined ways to speed up turnaround., the insurance group's focus on new products playe…

noun

A slender woody shoot growing from a branch or stem of a tree or shrub.

Usage examples:

Sound wave vibrations are absorbed by leaves, branches and twigs of trees and shrubs.

verb

Understand or realize something.

Usage examples:

It was amazing that graham hadn't twigged before

noun

The turning of a vehicle in a u-shaped course so as to face in the opposite direction.

Usage examples:

The car made a u-turn and headed back at high speed

noun

A turn like a u, made by a vehicle to go back in the direction from which it came

Usage examples:

I was making a u-turn into the southbound lanes.