switch

«switch» in Mova's school dictionary: a small button or lever that turns a light or a machine… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a switch, switches); verb (switch, switches, switched, switching)

meaning for a pupil

1) A switch is a small button or lever that turns a light or a machine on or off. tree →

2) To switch is to change one thing for another, or to swap. tree →

3) To switch on or switch off is to start or stop a light or machine. tree →

4) A switch is a sudden change, like a switch from rain to sun. tree →

5) A switch is also a thin, bendy stick or twig, and to switch someone is to hit them with one. tree →

sense in the lessons

switches on a wall are counted; to switch is to change places or to swap things, so amounts move between people; in everyday life and safety: switch off lights to save energy, never touch a switch with wet hands; in science a switch opens or closes an electric circuit; phrases: «switch on», «switch off», «switch places», «switch sides»

examples

• Each room has 2 light switches. tree →
• They switch seats. tree →
• Tom switches 3 of his cards for 3 of Ben's. tree →
• She switches the lamp off. tree →
• Please switch off the lights when you leave the room. tree →
• In the circuit, the bulb lights up when the switch is closed. tree →
• The team switched sides at half-time. tree →
• Dry your hands before you touch a switch. tree →
• He switched from football to swimming this year. tree →
• Aboo!” and at the same time he switched the naked baby with a thorny wild-rose bush. tree →

note

A swap of equal numbers keeps each total the same. Trap: switching places changes positions, not how many. Plural: switches. In science: a closed switch lets the current flow (bulb on); an open switch stops it. «Switch on/off» = «turn on/off».

In the corpora

• Grown-ups worry about it too, and sometimes they switch it off to protect you and themselves.
• Parents may switch off the news to protect children from scary pictures, and they worry about it themselves.
• Adults sometimes switch off heavy news to take a break from it, because too much bad news makes anyone gloomy.
• Switching off or walking away as soon as you see an 18 is always allowed, even at someone else's house.
• Mum switches the telly off, sits down and pulls her in.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «switch» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.