# switch

> English word · Noun · IPA /swɪt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #2,504

## Definitions
1. A device to turn electric current on and off or direct its flow.
2. A change or exchange.
3. A movable section of railroad track which allows the train to be directed down one of two destination tracks; (set of) points.
4. A long, slender woody plant stem or a flexible, thin rod used as a whip to administer corporal punishment in the United States.
5. Synonym of rute.
6. A command line notation allowing specification of optional behavior.
7. A programming construct that takes different actions depending on the value of an expression.
8. A networking device connecting multiple wires, allowing them to communicate simultaneously, when possible. Compare to the less efficient hub device that solely duplicates network packets to each wire.
9. A system of specialized relays, computer hardware, or other equipment which allows the interconnection of a calling party's telephone line with any called party's line.
10. A mechanism within DNA that activates or deactivates a gene.
11. One who is willing to take either a submissive or a dominant role in a sexual relationship.
12. A separate mass or tress of hair, or of some substance (such as jute) made to resemble hair, formerly worn on the head by women.
13. A variant of crazy eights where one card, such as an ace, reverses the direction of play.
14. Synonym of Glock switch.
15. Synonym of Glock switch.
16. A play in which the ball (or equivalent) is moved from one side of the playing area to the other.
17. The process of the currently fronting headmate changing; an instance of this.

## Etymology
Perhaps from Middle Dutch swijch (“twig”), first attested in c. 1592. The mechanical device for altering the direction of something sense is first attested in c. 1797, pertaining to pivoted rails on minecart railways, which were once wooden.

## Easily confused with
- **switched** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/switch-vs-switched)
- **switches** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/switch-vs-switches)
- **sith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sith-vs-switch)
- **sich** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sich-vs-switch)
- **smith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smith-vs-switch)
- **saith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saith-vs-switch)
- **swish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swish-vs-switch)
- **swath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swath-vs-switch)
- **sketch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sketch-vs-switch)
- **scotch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scotch-vs-switch)
- **stitch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stitch-vs-switch)
- **snatch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snatch-vs-switch)
- **snitch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snitch-vs-switch)
- **swatch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swatch-vs-switch)

## Common misspellings (10)
`siwtch`, `sswitch`, `swicth`, `switcch`, `switchh`, `swithc`, `swittch`, `swtich`, `swwitch`, `wsitch`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/switch