▪ I. switch, n.
(swɪtʃ)
Also 7 swits, swytche, swich.
[In branch I.: early forms swits, switz (see next); prob. ad. Flem. or LG. word represented by Hanoverian swutsche, variant of LG. zwukse long thin stick, switch (cf. zwuksen to bend up and down, also, to make a swishing noise like a lash). In branch II., f. switch v.]
I. 1. a. A slender tapering riding whip.
Phr. switch and spurs, upon the switch and spur = at full speed, in hot haste: see spur n.1 2 a, quots. 1592–1708.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 73 Swits and spurs, Swits and spurs, or Ile crie a match. ? c 1600 Distracted Emp. iii. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. (1884) III. 220, I must tyre, Theres not a swytche or prycke to quycken me. 1609 B. Jonson Masque of Queens Wks. (1616) 956 A Cloud of pitch, a spurre, and a switch, To haste him away, and a whirlewind play. 1655 Bp. Hall Serm. Higham 1 July, Rem. Wks. (1660) 209 The dog fears the whip, & the horse the switch. 1791 Boswell Johnson 16 Oct. 1773, He preferred riding with a switch. c 1815 Jane Austen Persuasion x, To cut off the heads of some nettles..with his switch. 1894 S. Weyman Under Red Robe ii. (1897) 31 Thundering on the door with my riding switch. |
† b. fig. Stimulus, incentive.
Obs. rare.
| 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Gt. Eater Kent 12 Any sawcy spurre or switch of sowre veriuce or acute vineger. |
2. a. A thin flexible shoot cut from a tree.
| 1610 Beaum. & Fl. Scornf. Lady v. iii, One that vpon the next anger of your brother, must raise a sconce by the high way, and sel switches. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iv. 9 Fetch me a dozen Crab-tree staues, and strong ones: these are but switches to 'em. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. II. 114 Some fix spikes from space to space into the Wall, sticking out about two Inches, to fasten Laths, Poles, Perches, or Switches upon them. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 117. ¶5 There was not a Switch about her House which her Neighbours did not believe had carried her several hundreds of Miles. 1801 J. Thomson Poems Sc. Dial. 133 A switch o' rowan-tree. 1845 S. Hislop in G. Smith Life ii. (1888) 57 The cotton is a low growing shrub, consisting of little more than two switches branching from each other. |
b. A massage instrument made of twigs.
| 1887 D. Maguire Art Massage iv. (ed. 4) 114 Percussions with the closed hand, the palette, switch, or any other instrument of percussion. |
3. Name for various mechanical devices for altering the direction of something, making a connexion or disconnexion, or other purposes.
a. On a railway: A movable rail or pair of rails pivoted at one end, forming part of the track at a junction with a branch line, siding, etc., and used to deflect or ‘shunt’ a train, car, etc. from one line to another; often made tapering, and in that case distinctively called
split switches,
point-switches, or
points (
point n.1 3 f). Also, by extension, the whole apparatus of which this is the essential part.
| 1797 J. Curr Coal Viewer 27 The part (h) being a stop to prevent the switch (g) from flying out too far. 1837 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 71/2 The switches so arranged, that an engine can never run off the line. 1845 Ann. Reg. 89 A ‘switch’ which, when turned in one direction allows the train to pass direct on. 1898 Hamblen Gen. Manager's Story iv. 40, I ran ahead.., opened and closed switches, cut off and coupled on the engine [etc.]. |
b. In an electric telegraph, telephone, signalling-, lighting-, or other apparatus: A lever, plug, or other device for making or breaking contact, or altering the connexions of a circuit,
e.g. for connecting a trunk line with one or other of various other lines. Also
loosely = switchboard.
| 1865 W. H. Preece Railway Electric Signalling 16 The instrument which is employed to raise and lower the signal is called a ‘Switch’. 1866 R. M. Ferguson Electr. 240 The clerk..thereupon turns the switch and sets the clock-work in motion. 1889 Preece & Maier Telephone xxx. 461 This switch consisted of a board provided with as many spring plates as there were transmitters, and which allowed the switching on or off the batteries working the microphones. 1899 J. L. Williams Stolen Story, etc. 42 Mr. Stone pulled down the switch and shut off the circuit of the Day's outer office. 1909 Le Queux House of Whispers xviii. (1913) 128 She touched the switch, and the place became flooded by a soft, mellow light from lamps..concealed behind the bookcases against the wall. |
c. ‘A key on a gas-burner to regulate the amount of gas passing, and, consequently, the light’ (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1875).
d. fig. or in
fig. contexts,
esp. with reference to railway or electrical switches;
asleep at the switch, etc. (
U.S. colloq.), negligent of or oblivious to one's responsibility, off guard.
| 1898 G. B. Shaw Let. 16 Mar. (1972) II. 16, I am very cross and incommoded..by having to adapt myself [to a new secretary]... For three sentences, I feel resentful..and quite put out. At the fourth the switch operates and I am on to the new line as if I had never dictated to anybody else. 1906 H. Green At Actors' Boarding House 368 Snow..awoke the startled Williams, asleep at the switch. 1932 W. Faulkner Light in August viii. 161 Mind and body as if on the same switch, believing that he had seen a movement among the shadows. 1958 Observer 19 Oct. 18/4 [The television play], though a bit slow off the switch, scored well over half-marks for sincerity and realism. 1966 C. Achebe Man of People iv. 51 We must not let up. We just must not be caught sleeping on the switch again. |
e. Computers. A program instruction that selects one or other of a number of possible paths according to the way it is set.
| 1951 M. V. Wilkes et al. Preparation of Programs for Electronic Digital Computer 167 Numbers at one end of a permitted range can be detected by adding a constant and testing the sign, and then the result of the discrimination may be used to operate a multiway switch. 1962 R. S. Ledley Programming & utilizing Digital Computers vi. 227 The switch designator is of the form name[n] where name is the name of the switch corresponding to the switch declaration and n is an integer telling which label of the switch declaration to use. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing v. 89 A switch can consist of a branch instruction, the address part of which can be altered by the program. |
4. A long bunch or coil of hair,
esp. of false hair worn by women to supplement the natural growth of hair.
| 1870 L. M. Alcott Old-Fashioned Girl xi. 223 So much hair of her own, that she never patronized either rats, mice, waterfalls, switches, or puff combs. 1878 B. Harte Man on Beach 87 ‘If I couldn't afford any other clothes, I might wear a switch, too!’ hissed the Amazonian queen. 1882 J. E. Sandeman in Proc. R. Geog. Soc. N.S. IV. 264 One Kachin swaba..had two switches of hair of the thickness of one's thumb, and four cubits long. 1888 Pall Mall G. 4 Aug. 5/1 The list of switches, such as the Jeunesse, the Frou Frou, the Basket Plait, and the Queen Anne. |
5. A stag having switch-horns.
| 1912 Blackw. Mag. Dec. 805/2 ‘He's nobbut a {oqq}switch{cqq},’ he whispered into Lord Donald's ear. |
II. 6. An act of switching; a blow with a switch; also in
Angling (
cf. next, 3).
| 1809 T. Donaldson Poems 199 I'll gie ye still anither switch, Or a' be done. 1839 Mrs. Kirkland New Home xxvi. 166 Henry gave Job such a switch across the knuckles as effectually cleared the bridle. 1867 F. Francis Angling v. 130 The running line goes before the casting line, and it requires a sharp switch or cut to get the casting line fairly forward. 1883 Mrs. E. Kennard Right Sort xxi, [She] raised her whip-hand and gave the mare a smart switch. |
7. Gunnery.
angle of switch = switching angle (
switching vbl. n. 5).
8. a. A change from one state or course to another; an alteration of position, policy, etc.
| 1920 Ade Hand-Made Fables 27 A switch had to be made. The Wholesaler..wished him on to the Banker. 1941 News Rev. 14 Aug. 4/2 The Soviet's entry into the war against Nazi Germany meant a switch in the Communist Party's home policy as well as its foreign outlook. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 151/2 In the space of six months it recently shifted a large section of its enterprises from murder to love comics. The combined attacks of Dr. Frederic Wertham, Mr. G. Legman, and others suggested the advisability of a partial switch from Death to Love. 1960 Economist 15 Oct. 260/2 Large-scale cultivation of wheat in the new areas would make possible a switch to industrial crops in the older agricultural parts. 1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon viii. 151 If you're thinking I could have done some sort of a switch at some stage, you can put the idea out of your mind straight away. 1981 F. Hoyle Ice x. 158 It is satisfactory that both of the switches, to and from an ice-age condition, can arise from the same kind of cosmogonic event. |
b. Bridge. A change of suit either in bidding or play.
Cf. sense 7 b of the
vb.| 1921 A. M. Foster Auction Bridge 70 The take-out or switch. 1923 [see assist n. a]. 1939 N. De V. Hart Bridge Players' Bedside Bk. iv. 38 It was a clever switch, and at once turned the hand into a difficult problem. 1952 I. Macleod Bridge is Easy Game xii. 141 Here you dare not concede the opening trick for a Heart switch will surely defeat you. 1980 R. Markus Bridge-Table Tales vi. 19 Declarer was forced to win East's king for fear of a spade switch. |
c. An exchange;
spec. a substitution which involves criminal deception.
colloq. and
slang.| 1935 Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xiv. 144, I plunged into..your state-room..and gave the sleeping figure..a hearty wallop..and it was Gertrude... ‘What's the idea? Why the switch?’ 1938 F. Chester Shot Full xxv. 302 Another of Lewis's rackets was to pose as a buyer of loose diamonds, and then substitute glass for the stones... This form of robbery is known as ‘the switch’. 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. ii. 369 Somebody pulled the old twenty-dollar-bill switch on her, Ellery said looking up from his magazine. |
III. 9. attrib. and
Comb., as
switch-cord,
switch-box,
switch-gear,
switch-handle,
switch-lever,
switch-plug,
switch-stick,
switch-whip;
switch-bar, a bar connected with a switch (on a railway or electrical apparatus);
switch base (see
quot. 1940);
switch-blade, (
a) the ‘blade’ or hinged strip of metal of a ‘knife-switch’ in an electrical apparatus, which is inserted between the jaws to complete the circuit; (
b) a pocket knife with a blade released by pressing a button or similar device on the handle (
cf. flick-knife s.v. flick n.1 4); in full,
switch-blade knife;
switch cane, a large bamboo,
Arundinaria gigantea subsp.
tecta, native to southern N. America;
switch-clerk, a telephone clerk or operator;
switch dealing Econ., purchase and resale, or sale and repurchase, of a commodity in order to profit by differential values of currency; repurchase or resale through a third party; hence
switch deal,
dealer;
switch dollar Econ. (see
quots.);
switch-engine = switching-engine (
switching vbl. n. 5); so
switch-engineer, the driver of a switch-engine;
switch gear, the assembly of switching devices and associated equipment used in the generation and transmission of electric power;
switch gene Genetics, a gene whose presence or absence determines whether a group of other genes is expressed;
switch-girl Austral. = switchboard girl s.v. switchboard b;
switch-grass, the couch-grass or squitch,
Triticum repens;
switch-hitter U.S. Baseball, an ambidextrous batter; also
transf. (
colloq.) in sporting and
gen. contexts;
slang, a bisexual; also
switch-hitting ppl. a. and vbl. n.;
switch hook Teleph., the hook or support in a telephone set which operates the circuit switch when the receiver is placed upon or removed from it;
switch-horn, a stag's horn without branches; also, a stag having such horns;
switch-knife = switch-blade (b) above;
switch-lamp,
-lantern, a lamp or lantern fixed on a railway switch to indicate which track is open;
switch-light U.S. = switch-lamp,
-lantern; also
transf. (see
quot. 1960);
switch mechanism Genetics, the mechanism by which a switch gene operates;
switch-plant Bot., a plant having green switch-like branches, nearly or quite leafless, which perform the function of leaves;
switch-rail = sense 3 a;
switch-reference Linguistics (see
quot. 1972);
switch-room, a room containing the switches of an electrical system (telegraph, telephone, etc.);
switch selling, a sales technique whereby cheap goods are displayed in order to lead the consumer to buy similar but more expensive items; also
transf.; hence
switch-selling ppl. a. and (as a back-formation)
switch-sell v. intr.;
switch-signal, a signal indicating the position of a railway switch;
switch-snake = whip-snake;
switch-sorrel, name in Jamaica for the shrub
Dodonæa viscosa, from the sour taste of its leaves;
switch-stand, a stand or support for the levers and other apparatus connected with a set of railway switches;
switch-table, a form of switchboard shaped like an ordinary table;
switch tail = swish-tail (see
swish-); also
attrib. having such a tail;
switch-tender, a man who attends to a set of switches on a railway, a switchman, pointsman;
switch-tower U.S., a building containing the levers or other appliances for working a set of switches on a railway, etc.; a signal-box, -cabin, or -tower;
switch trading Econ., international trading in commodities conducted through media other than currency (
cf. switch deal above);
switchyard U.S., (
a) an area of a railway taken up by points, and in which trains are made up; also
transf.; (
b) an enclosed area of a power system which contains the switchgear. See also
switchboard,
switchman.
| 1837 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 52/2 The *switch bars corresponding with the straight line. |
| 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 826/1 *Switch-base, the insulating base on which a switch is mounted. 1967 M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World iv. 114 For telegraph or telephone insulation, as for domestic switch-bases, fuse-holders, bulb-sockets, and so on, almost any kind of insulating material will work. |
| 1909 Installation News III. 119/2 The *switch blades are fitted with sparking contacts. 1932 L. Hughes Negro Mother 13 'Cause I carries a switch-blade And I swing it a-hummin', And if I don't get you goin', I'll cut you down comin'. 1950 Patterson & Conrad Scottsboro Boy ii. ii. 96 He put the shears in his pocket and went to his cell. I had a switch-blade knife. I went looking for him. 1957 New Yorker 5 Oct. 64/1 A fist fight between two champions, but there are emotional complications, and the switch-blade knives are put to work. 1975 P. Theroux Great Railway Bazaar xxx. 342, I would have plotted myself into danger; Sadik would have had a switchblade and gold teeth. |
| 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 826/1 *Switch-box, an enclosure housing one or more switches operated by means of an external handle. 1978 W. F. Buckley Stained Glass xxii. 217 Blackford walked to the switch box. |
| 1845 W. T. Porter Big Bear Arkansas 132 They circled about among the *switch-cane and priscimmon bushes a long time. 1954 W. Faulkner in Holiday XV. 36/3 The Natchez doctor was clearing the land fast now, plowing under the..switch cane of the creek and river bottoms. |
| 1889 Preece & Maier Telephone xiv. 230 No *switch-clerk is permitted to have charge of more than fifty renters. |
| Ibid., The testing of the *switch-cords is a matter that must not be overlooked. |
| 1973 ‘D. Jordan’ Nile Green xxi. 85 KK hovered in his office, too, doing a quick *switch deal in forward dollars. |
| 1967 Economist 14 Jan. 143/1 When the Russians don't wish to take up a consignment of Moroccan oranges to which they are committed under a bilateral trade agreement, they go to a specialist known as a *switch dealer in one of Europe's financial centres, and he arranges a resale to someone else, at a discount. That, in a nutshell, is the mysterious art of switch trading. |
| 1957 Ibid. 21 Dec. 1082/1 Commodity shunting in general virtually stops when the margin between transferable sterling and official sterling is a little less than three per cent. But ‘*switch’ dealings in platinum are possible at a narrower margin. 1964 Times Rev. Industry Sept. 17/1 All purchases of foreign exchange for investment in non-Sterling Areas are subject to control... Direct investment projects..may be financed..either by borrowing abroad or by using the non-sterling currency proceeds of the sale of foreign securities..; i.e., so-called ‘*switch dollars’. 1978 J. Paxton Dict. European Econ. Community (rev. ed.) 236 Switch dollar market. Investment in foreign securities by United Kingdom residents is not normally allowed.., but existing holdings may be realised and the proceeds switched into (i.e. used to buy) other securities, or sold..to other United Kingdom residents who wish to purchase foreign securities. For convenience, such funds, whatever the currency, are expressed in terms of United States dollars called Switch, security or investment dollars. |
| 1896 Nebraska St. Jrnl. 15 Feb. 8/4 He was struck by the footboard of an approaching *switch engine. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 24 Dec. 8/1 To regulate the seniority list of the *switch engineers. |
| 1901 Ibid. 31 Oct. 8/1, 6,000 horse-power in boilers, engines, dynamos, and *switch gear. 1930 Times 29 Mar. 19/4 Out metal is now being adopted as a substitute for non-magnetic iron in many instances, such as in the large casings for metal-clad switchgear. 1958 Optima Sept. 130/2 The electrical industry uses platinum for switchgear contacts in such equipment as traffic lights, telephone exchanges, radio stations and generating stations. 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 609/2 Continued improvements in control circuitry and microprocessors are likely to..further increase the utilization of transformers, switchgear and circuits. |
| [1941 Mather & de Winton in Ann. Bot. V. 310 The more rigorous the selection of illegitimacy to outbreeding conditions the more efficient it is as an in-breeding mechanism when the switching genes are changed.] 1942 Nature 14 Nov. 564/1 Mather and de Winton have recently spoken of such genes as ‘*switch genes’. 1968 R. D. Martin tr. Wickler's Mimicry in Plants & Animals vii. 82 Polymorphisms is sometimes controlled by single genes, sometimes by groups of genes, and..switch genes (as explained for Papilio dardanus) may also play a part. |
| 1943 K. Tennant Ride on Stranger xi. 120 Some of them would be asking for letters at the *switch-girl's desk. 1969 Southerly XXIX. 93 The tea-lady panders to the biological necessities of life, the switchgirl makes communication easier. |
| 1840 J. Buel Farmer's Comp. 232 The quack, *switch, or witch grass, a variety of the fiorin. |
| 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 107 The *switch-handle itself is in connection with the back contact of the key k. |
| 1948 L. Durocher Dodgers & Me vii. 49 Cullenbine, a *switch hitter, and Steve Rachunok..were two athletes we had picked up..from Detroit. 1956 H. Kurnitz Invasion of Privacy iii. 25 A free-swinging round-house slap..landed high on his cheek... ‘What do you know!’ he said softly. ‘A southpaw!’ ‘Wrong,’ said the girl. ‘A switch-hitter.’ 1960 Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 534/1 Switch-hitter, a bisexual person. 1972 Pussycat XXXIII. lix. 8/1 The buddy would shove cock to me. I can still remember the first switch-hitter. |
| 1938 Philadelphia Rec. 5 Feb. 15/6 A signed contract has been received from Emmett Mueller, *switch-hitting rookie whom the Phils rescued from the Cardinal chain gang this winter. 1952 Sun (Baltimore) 25 Feb. (B ed.) 14/6 He also picked up a switch-hitting style from baseball. Gordie is the only player..who has mastered the art of switching hands on his stick, so that he can shoot from either his right or left side without warning. 1970 N.Y. Times 16 Aug. ii. 1/1 Chock full of scenes of what people apparently want to see today..lesbianism, switch-hitting, group gropes. |
| 1922 Telegr. & Teleph. Jrnl. VIII. 82/2 If a subscriber leaves his receiver off the *switchhook..the switching equipment is automatically released after a certain interval. 1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xxii. 4 In the common-battery [telephone] set..a circuit closure, activated by the switch hook, serves to alert the central office. |
| 1880 H. C. St. John Wild Coasts Nipon 276 A stag with *switch horns. 1907 Spectator 5 Jan. 11/1 The ‘hummel’ stag—that ungainly beast with no horns at all—is a better fighter than the ‘switch-horn’. |
| 1955 Time 6 June 27/3 They manufacture pistols, carry *switchknives and use them. 1957 Wodehouse Over Seventy xv. 144 At Eightieth Street he produced a switch-knife... ‘This is a stick-up’, he announced. |
| 1898 Hamblen Gen. Manager's Story ii. 12 An old man..who was trimming *switch lamps. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Switch-lantern, a lantern on the lever of a railway-switch, to indicate the condition of the switch either by its position or by the display of a colored light. |
| Ibid., *Switch-lever, the handle and bar by which the switch is moved. |
| 1892 Harper's Mag. Dec. 80 He saw the station agent running down the tracks with the red *switch-light. 1929 W. Faulkner Sartoris iv. 350 Along the tracks green switch-lights were steady in the dusk. 1960 Listener 18 Aug. 250/2 When a hungry young boomer came in and demanded..‘a couple of switch lights in the fog’..what he really wanted was..two fried eggs with the grease poured over them. |
| 1941 Ann. Bot. V. 308 The *switch mechanism at the S,s locus offers the possibility of a very different adjustment to changed breeding conditions. 1953 J. S. Huxley Evolution in Action I. 29 Some genetic differences act as a switch mechanism, turning on a whole battery of further processes. |
| 1894 Oliver tr. Kerner's Nat. Hist. Plants (1902) I. 330 Another group of plants known by the name of ‘*switch’ plants..are characterized by their rod-shaped stems and branches... The Spartium belongs to those switch-plants which are not entirely leafless. |
| 1901 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 9 Mar. 573/2 A workman had fixed a brass socket (to hold the *switch plug). |
| 1797 J. Curr Coal Viewer 26 The mode of turning out to the right hand, and passing, which is done..without a *switch rail, as is required in common waggon ways. |
| 1967 W. Jacobsen in Hymes & Bittle Stud. in Southwestern Ethnolinguistics 238 This paper discusses a device for pronominal references, denominated ‘*switch-reference’, which is found, with considerable differences of detail, in three languages of the Hokan-Coahuiltecan group. 1972 D. Hymes in M. E. Smith Stud. in Linguistics in Honor of G. L. Trager 105 The use of separate forms of third person to keep track of discourse is best treated under the general heading of ‘switch reference’... It may be preferable to abandon use of the term ‘fourth person’ altogether, speaking simply of ‘inclusive’, ‘obviative’.., and ‘switch reference’. 1978 Language LIV. 220 The presence of switch-reference morphemes..also appears to be an areal feature in parts of California. |
| 1885 List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 8 Each subscriber is furnished with a set of instruments..which is connected with a wire communicating with the Exchange or *Switch Room nearest his address. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 7 Dec. 7/3 The switch-room system is making its debut in London. This is known as the central battery system. [1930 Amer. Speech VI. 128 To switch a customer is to quote to him a low price on an article to inspire him, and then to direct his interest to another article.] 1960 Guardian 30 Nov. 2/7 The practice of *switch selling of sewing and other machines..from misleading advertisements. 1965 E. Gundrey Foot in Door ii. 20 The fast-talking, switch-selling, hard-pressing salesman. Ibid. xxxviii. 219 It should..be made illegal to ‘switch-sell’. 1971 H. Wilson Labour Govt. xix. 361 Mr Kosygin..was escorted throughout the day by..the Secretary of State, who had been told about the American exercise in switch-selling the night before and had been asked to watch out for any signs of reaction. |
| 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 358 Railway *Switch Signal. |
| 1791 W. Bartram Carolina 196 [The tail] not small and slender as in the *switch snake. 1864 *Switch Sorrel [see sorrel n.1 4]. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Switch-stand (Railway) a fulcrum and locking-device for the levers whereby switch-rails are moved. |
| 1858 Lytton What will He do? iii. xvi, In his hand he carried a supple *switch-stick. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., The ‘*switch’ tables, of which there are twelve in the Cincinnati [telephone] Exchange. |
| 1689 Lond. Gaz. No. 2473/4 A sand grey Mare,..with a *switch Tail. 1776 Pennsylv. Even. Post 4 June 280/2 A bright bay horse,..three white feet, a switch tail, shod all round. 1853 Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour iii. 11 He had a famous switch tail, reaching nearly to his hocks. 1871 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. May 280 A bare⁓backed, switch-tail horse. |
| 1853 Putnam's Mag. July 34/2 We went roaring, rushing, screaming, up the valley of the Susquehanna, occasionally passing a *switch-tender with his white lights. 1870 E. E. Hale Ten Times One i. (Cent. Dict.), Her husband, who is now switch-tender, lost his arm in the great smash-up. |
| 1897 Kipling in Scribner's Mag. Aug. 146/1 They were at the far north end of the yard, now, under a *switch-tower, and looking down on the four-track way of the main traffic. 1901 Munsey's Mag. XXV. 699/1 The locomotive..stopping only once to allow McCann to drop another set of running orders at a switch tower on the next division. |
| 1967 *Switch trading [see switch dealer above]. 1974 Harper's Mag. Dec. 54 What Intertel does is.. advise on geopolitical ‘switch-trading opportunities’. |
| 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxviii, Slapping his boots with his *switch-whip. |
| 1888 Austin (Texas) Statesman 1 Nov. 6/6 In the *switch yards of the Chicago & Alton..nearly all the men reported for duty this morning. 1943 J. S. Huxley TVA 85 The transformers and switchyard..are not applied to a predetermined structure, they are part of it. 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) x. 70, I was at the switch⁓yards, still running, and then I was clambering in the coupling of a moving freight. 1969 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 16 Oct. 40/7 Work is to begin immediately on placing the..generators at the underground powerhouse..and the switchyard and central control building on the surface. 1971 Sci. Amer. June 60 Near the end of its trip the electron beam passes through a ‘beam switchyard’ before reaching the target areas. |
Add:
[I.] [3.] f. Finance. A computer system which manages the automatic transfer of funds between point-of-sale terminals (and automated teller machines) and financial institutions;
spec. (with capital initial) a generic EFTPOS system introduced in the
U.K. in 1988; also, the transfer of funds using a system of this kind.
| 1977 Electronic News 6 June (Suppl.) 54/2 The report expects a large number of transaction switches to be installed by 1984 to support the on-line payments network. 1981 A. Bequai Cashless Society iii. 32 A regional or national POS system would consist of multiple switches, each switch servicing a designated locality. 1984 Supermarket News 2 July 1 Publix is the first supermarket company to own not only the in-store terminals but also the crucial switch that channels the messages..to the appropriate banks. 1988 Financial Times 21 Apr. 9/5 By the time Switch comes into operation in October, several other banks and building societies may have joined the club. |
[III.] [9.] Switch card, a debit card issued for use with the Switch EFTPOS system (see sense *3 f above).
| 1988 Times 21 Apr. 2/1 Retailers..will have equipment which will automatically debit the customer's bank current account..when the *Switch card is ‘wiped’ through point-of-sale terminals. 1990 Ideal Home Apr. 128/4 In more and more stores..you can pay with your Switchcard. |
▪ II. switch, v. Also 7
switz,
swich.
[f. prec.] 1. a. trans. To strike, hit, beat, flog, or whip with or as with a switch.
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xxiii. 315 Thy right horse, then switching; all thy throate (Spent in encouragements) giue him. a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour i. i, Has been thrice switz't from seven a clock till nine. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. i. xxxi. (1674) 36 [He] did so seasonably switch and put on his Horses. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 179/2 Any gentleman of noble extraction..that had married for couetousnesse or with a woman of meane condition, was to be switched with wands. 1832 H. Martineau Demerara i. 11 She switched her brother with the cane she snatched from his hand. 1845 S. Judd Margaret ii. viii, You must truss-up a cow's tail if you don't want to be switched when you're milking. 1866 R. M. Ballantyne Shifting Winds ix. (1881) 88 We heard him switching his boots as he passed along the street. |
b. intr. or absol. To strike, deal a blow or blows, with or as with a switch.
| 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. xviii. 390 With his revengeful sword [he] swich'd after them that fled. 1676 Hobbes Iliad (1677) 149 Ulysses with his bow still switching on. 1678 R. L'Estrange Seneca's Mor. iii. 130 To be perpetually switching, and spurring, makes him [sc. a horse] Vitious, and Jadish. 1691 Shadwell Scowrers i. ii, You women are for the young stripling, that switch, and spur a short race. |
c. I'll be switched, a mild indication of exasperation, denial, or surprise.
N. Amer. colloq.| 1838 U.S. Mag. I. 427, I'll be switched if I do. 1841 J. B. Jones Wild Western Scenes xiv. 178 I'll be switched if many folks lives in higher houses than I does. 1901 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 4 Oct. 3/7 ‘Well, I'll be switched!’ ejaculated the chatterer. 1941 L. I. Wilder Little Town on Prairie ix. 99 ‘Well, I'll be switched!’ said Pa... It takes you to think up a chicken pie, a year before there's chickens to make it with. |
2. a. trans. With adverbial extension: To drive with or as with a switch.
| a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Wit without M. ii. iv, Go switch me up a Covey of young Scholars. 1625 Massinger New Way i. i, I shall switch your brains out! 1824 Scott St. Ronan's iii, Honest Nelly switched her little fish-cart downwards to St. Ronan's Well. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xviii. (1891) 218 He..observed his master switch beast after beast into the..receptacles for cattle. |
† b. fig. To urge on, impel, incite.
Obs.| 1648 Winyard Midsummer-Moon 2 He comes forth like mad Orestes switched on by furies. 1659 in Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 297 To retrench the time is very acceptable; but why we should go to it so switched and spurred, I know not. 1672 Mede's Wks. Life p. xlv, How this, I say, would switch and spur on their Industries. |
3. a. To flourish like a switch, to whisk, lash; to move (something) with a sudden jerk;
spec. in
Angling (see
quot. 1867).
| 1842 J. Wilson Chr. North I. v. 205 Not a bird can open his wing, nor a rat switch his tail, without scattering the straw like chaff. 1856 Miss Mulock John Halifax xiv, He..stood switching his riding-whip after the old habit. 1867 F. Francis Angling v. 138 In very windy weather, or in difficult places,..the angler..will have to switch his line. Raising the point of the rod high in the air,..he must make a sharp forward and downward cut. 1870 Rock Textile Fabr. i. 51 The..animal has switched its tail into the last link of the chain. |
b. intr. To bend as a switch or flexible twig.
| 1854 Ruskin Lect. Archit. ii. §37 A branch of wild rose, which switches round at the angle, embracing the minute figure of the bishop. |
4. trans. To cut off the switches or projecting twigs from; to trim (a tree, hedge, etc.).
| 1811 W. Nicol Planter's Kal. (1812) 460 Switch and clip thorn and other deciduous hedges. 1812 [see switching vbl. n. 3]. 1826 Scott Jrnl. 29 Oct., Elms cruelly cropped, pollarded, and switched. 1843 A. Hepburn in Zoologist I. 297 [Hedges] are commonly pruned or switched every year. |
5. to switch a rasper: see
swish v. 3.
| 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney I. 225 He was killed, switching a rasper. |
6. a. To turn (a railway train, car, etc.) on to another line by means of a switch; to shunt; also
intr. for pass. b. intr. Of a railway line: To branch or turn
off at a switch.
U.S.| 1853 ‘Mark Twain’ Let. in Iowa Jrnl. Hist. (1929) XXVII. 413 Our train ran back half a mile and switched off another track, and stopped. 1875 L. F. Tasistro tr. Comte de Paris's Civ. War Amer. I. 230 Two branches of the Alexandria and Lynchburg line switch off to enter the Valley of Virginia. 1891 C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 60 The car that I was in was switched out of the train and left in the yard there. 1901 Munsey's Mag. XXV. 698/2, I knew they changed engines here, but they switched the train, and I lost it. 1904 Daily News 15 July 7/1 The freight train was switching, and thus occupied both tracks. |
7. fig. To turn
off, divert. Chiefly
U.S.| 1860 O. W. Holmes Elsie V. xvii. (1861) 209 That curious state which is so common in good ministers,..in which they contrive to switch off their logical faculties on the narrow side-track of their technical dogmas. 1897 Globe 18 Feb. 1/4 Mr. Julian Hawthorne has explained to an interviewer that his recent infertility as a novelist is due to the fact that he has ‘somehow been switched off into journalism’. 1897 Conan Doyle Trag. Korosko vi, The Colonel..switched the conversation off to the chances of the morrow. |
b. intr. To change or transfer from one thing to another; to alter to another state or activity. Also with preps. and advbs.
spec. in
Bridge, to change to another suit in bidding or in play (see sense 8 b of the
n.).
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 20 Oct. 14/1 It is possible that the king will be held up, in which case, after making the ten, knave in dummy, he will switch to diamonds. 1921 A. M. Foster Auction Bridge 32 Your partner..can support your call or switch into another bid. 1932 Daily Tel. 8 Oct. 15/5 At Contract he has the..duty of raising the opener's bid..and, if he switches, of deciding whether to make a pre-emptive bid or not. 1952 I. Macleod Bridge is Easy Game xiv. 189 Switching to Diamonds declarer made her contract. 1980 R. Markus Bridge-Table Tales iv. 16 West won and switched to a spade. |
| 1923 H. Crane Let. 20 Jan. (1965) 117, I..urged him not to ‘waste his time’ on any magazine project. But after his visit here last summer I quickly switched about. 1930 H. Zink City Bosses in U.S. x. 207 He bolted the regulars and switched to reform groups. 1954 J. Steinbeck Sweet Thursday v. 34 He knows when high-school boys have switched from gin to marijuana. 1962 Rep. Comm. Broadc. 1960 239 in Parl. Papers 1961–2 (Comnd. 1753) IX. 259 Viewers who did not switch would find themselves exposed at some time of the evening to informational material. 1978 M. Amis Success ix. 173 Some dead-end toiler asked to switch from one equally meaningless chore to another. |
c. trans. To exchange (items),
esp. with intent to deceive.
| 1897 Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 18 June 5/2 An opportunity presented itself to ‘switch’ the bottles. 1917 Dialect Notes IV. 330 Switch, v.t., to exchange, esp. surreptitiously. ‘I thought I was getting title to this land, but they switched deeds on me in the office.’ Neb. 1948 C. L. B. Hubbard Dogs in Britain iii. xv. 130 A business in which dogs have been ‘switched’ (and doped) and the results manipulated is questionable. 1978 F. Weldon Praxis x. 75 Praxis managed to switch envelopes so that an empty one was dispatched instead. |
d. To change or alter (
from one thing
to another); to transfer. Also, with items involved in the change as plural
obj.| 1919 Wodehouse My Man Jeeves 157 It struck me that I'd no right to butt in on his secret sermons, so I switched the conversation. 1931 W. G. McAdoo Crowded Years x. 157 Sullivan switched the fifty-eight votes of Illinois from Clark to Wilson. 1957 A. C. Clarke Deep Range xxi. 188 The very idea of switching our entire herds to milking instead of slaughtering is just crazy. 1959 Daily Tel. 15 Oct. 12 Among those who have switched offices, Mr. Watkinson's is perhaps the most surprising translation. 1963 Listener 28 Feb. 363/2 The government was forced to switch the full campaign towards the less flexible statutory committees. 1975 D. Lodge Changing Places vi. 229 Philip switches channels until he hits the transmission of the Plotinus March. |
8. a. trans. In electrical apparatus: To direct (a current) by means of a switch; to put
on or
off,
i.e. connect or disconnect with a battery, or with a particular line or circuit,
e.g. on a telephone; to turn (an electric light, radio, television, etc.)
on or
off; to turn
out (an electric light). Also, to change the state of (a two-state device).
| 1881 Daily News 14 Nov. 5/3 Subscribers have become accustomed to be ‘switched on’ to each other. 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts Ser. iii. 72/1 The current will be ‘switched’ into the signalling apparatus. 1891 Times 28 Sept. 13/5 By automatically switching in or out of circuit a larger or smaller number of accumulator cells. 1907 H. Wyndham Flare of Footlights ii, She..switched on a single electric light. 1935 Radio Times 13 Sept. 4/3 If you were to switch on your set..you would have no difficulty in distinguishing..who was speaking or singing. 1954 I. Murdoch Under Net iii. 53, I didn't switch out the light, but covered the lamp up again with gauzy stuffs until it gave only a faint glow. 1960 Haley & Scott Analogue & Digital Computers vii. 188 The core is switched from the 1 to the 0 state. 1964 F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers iv. 79 This is..got round by first switching a wound core..and then allowing the read current in this core to be used to write in the appropriate row and column. 1983 J. Fuller Convergence xix. 210 It is no sweat. Easy as switching on the old FM. |
(
ii)
to switch in: to bring into a circuit by the operation of a switch; similarly
to switch out.
Cf. quot. 1891, sense 8.
| 1957 Practical Wireless XXXIII. 734/1 A resistor could be switched in initially to limit the maximum possible current flowing to 10 mA. 1970 J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers iii. 67 The loudness control filter..can be switched out allowing the volume control to work in the ordinary, uncompensated manner. 1978 SLR Camera Aug. 90/1 To switch in the automatic exposure control system all he need do is turn the shutter speed setting dial to the position marked ‘Auto’. |
(
iii)
intr. Of a two-state device: to pass to the other state. Of its state: to change.
| 1964 F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers iv. 77 The resulting change of flux as the core switches will cause an electromotive force in the read wire. 1981 J. D. Lenk Handbk. Digital Electronics ii. 41 Inputs cause the state of the circuit to switch, reversing the output. |
b. intr. or absol. To turn
on (or
off) a radio or television set, or other device.
Cf. turn v. 74 h, 75 a.
| 1932 Even. Standard 21 Jan. 3/3 The best plan is to tell listeners what is going to happen and let them decide whether they switch off or not. 1951 ‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids xi. 206, I could not hear above the noise of the engines. We both switched off. 1958 Listener 20 Nov. 849/3 Many viewers may have missed it by switching off in fatigue. 1975 Ibid. 9 Jan. 38/2 They do it because someone's just switched on. 1977 Rep. Comm. Future of Broadcasting (Cmnd. 6753) iii. 19 Viewers and listeners cannot..express..disapproval, except by switching off. |
c. intr. To change
over to another state by means of a switch;
spec. to alter the receiving channel of a radio or television set.
| 1937 Discovery Nov. 348/2 By switching over from white light to black an entire scene can be changed instantaneously. 1940 N. Mitford Pigeon Pie v. 85 It would be difficult to do better, for an account of the Wig Inquest than to switch over, as they say on the wireless, to the columns of the Evening Runner. 1958 Sunday Times 26 Jan. 6/5, 200 pages of mumbo-jumbo which would make anyone switch over to another programme. 1961 S. Price Just for Record i. 13 The phone hasn't rung all day because I've switched over to the answering service. |
d. trans. To turn
off (a television or radio programme, or its content).
| 1947 G. B. Shaw How to become Musical Critic (1960) 321 [The B.B.C.'s] worst concessions to popular bad taste..are very horrible. I switch them off so promptly that I am hardly qualified to condemn them. 1962 Listener 18 Oct. 633/3 The archness of the dialogue had to be heard to be switched off. |
e. To direct (a telephone link)
through to a subsidiary receiver by means of a switch.
| 1971 ‘S. Smith’ Grave Affair xii. 181 The telephone had not been switched through to my study deliberately. 1976 J. Tate tr. A. Bodelsen's Operation Cobra xvii. 83 They switched the telephone through and went on up. |
9. transf. and
fig. a. To turn
on or
off, as if by means of a switch.
| 1929 W. J. Locke Ancestor Jorico viii. 111 Without great discourtesy one couldn't switch off Binkie. 1934 Discovery Sept. 259/2 In this way she succeeded in switching off any unpleasant dream. 1966 Listener 24 Mar. 426/1, I have always found it very easy to ‘switch on’ emotion. 1967 B. Patten Little Johnny's Confession 54 Those couples who Having been switched off permanently, Are so very still. 1980 Nature 27 Mar. 379/2 The prose style is guaranteed to switch off all but the most ardent student. |
b. intr. for refl. With
off. Of persons: to cease listening, to lose concentration; to become bored or inattentive.
| 1921 G. B. Shaw Back to Methuselah iii. 94 Dont switch off. Listen. This American has invented a method of breathing under water. 1928 [see easy adv. 4 b]. 1955 Times 22 June 11/5 Does he seriously maintain that in a class of 24 boys, where 23 are working keenly and well, it is invariably the master who is to blame because No. 24 always ‘switches off’? 1976 J. I. M. Stewart Memorial Service vii. 108 He was heavy alike with his years and his whisky and wine, and he may simply have switched off. 1980 D. Bloodworth Trapdoor xx. 121 For some reason he could not fathom she had switched off. Her love had died. |