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Entry 10 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Switch

/swĭch/ · IPA /swɪt͡ʃ/
01 n. A small, flexible twig or rod.
  1. 1.
    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.
  2. 2.
    A movable part of a rail; or of opposite rails, for transferring cars from one track to another.(Railways)
  3. 3.
    A separate mass or trees of hair, or of some substance (at jute) made to resemble hair, worn on the head by women.
  4. 4.
    A device for shifting an electric current to another circuit, or for making and breaking a circuit.(Elec.)
Phrases & compounds
Safety switch — a form of switch contrived to prevent or lessen the danger of derailment of trains.
Switch back — 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 — 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 — See under Grass.
02 v. t. To strike with a switch or small flexible rod; to whip.
imp. & p. p. Switched; p. pr. & vb. n. Switching
  1. 1.
    To strike with a switch or small flexible rod; to whip.
  2. 2.
    To swing or whisk; as, to switch a cane.
  3. 3.
    To trim, as, a hedge.[Prov. Eng.]
  4. 4.
    To turn from one railway track to another; to transfer by a switch; -- generally with off, from, etc.; as, to switch off a train; to switch a car from one track to another.
  5. 5.
    To shift to another circuit.(Eccl.)
03 v. i. To walk with a jerk.
  1. 1.
    To walk with a jerk.[Prov. Eng.]