The Collaborative International Dictionary
Switch \Switch\, n. [Cf. OD. swick a scourage, a whip. Cf. Swink, Swing.]
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A small, flexible twig or rod.
Mauritania, on the fifth medal, leads a horse with something like a thread; in her other hand she holds a switch.
--Addison. (Railways) A movable part of a rail; or of opposite rails, for transferring cars from one track to another.
A separate mass or trees of hair, or of some substance (at jute) made to resemble hair, worn on the head by women.
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(Elec.) A device for shifting an electric current to another circuit, or for making and breaking a circuit.
Safety switch (Railways), a form of switch contrived to prevent or lessen the danger of derailment of trains.
Switch back (Railways), an arrangement of tracks whereby elevations otherwise insurmountable are passed. The track ascends by a series of zigzags, the engine running alternately forward and back, until the summit is reached.
Switch board (Elec.), a collection of switches in one piece of apparatus, so arranged that a number of circuits may be connected or combined in any desired manner.
Switch grass. (Bot.) See under Grass.
Usage examples of "switch back".
As quickly as my blurred vision and shaky right hand would permit I unscrewed the central rocker arm, lifted out the switch, pretended to straighten out the copper lugs and then screwed the switch back in place.
An hour later, his face dripping with sweat, Byrne slapped the power switch back to off and sat in the uncomfortable seat.
If we mount it on a string and run it to a pulley, then back to the switch on the gate, air rushing that way will throw the switch back to the off position.
My greatest fear was that one or both couldn't make the original switch or the switch back without awakening the sleepers.
Alf or Pietro, it's sometimes nice to be able to switch back and forth when the action gets fast and let the other do my sleeping for me, or recover from a bullet wound, sleep off a hangover, or a cold.
So he'd been forced to rely on his memory, and there had been many assignments, especially those in which he was meeting various contacts and had to switch back-and-forth between identities several times during one day, when his ability to recall and adapt had been taxed to the maximum.