swap

verb

/sʋap/

Etymology

From Middle English swappen (“to swap”), originally meaning "to hurl" or "to strike", the word alludes to striking hands together when making an exchange; probably from Old English *swappian, a secondary form of Old English swāpan (“to swoop”). Cognate with German schwappen (“to slosh, slop”). Compare also Middle English swippen (“to strike, hit”), from Old English swipian (“to scourge, strike, beat, lash”), Old Norse svipa (“to swoop, flash, whip, look after, look around”). More at swipe.

inherited from swāpan
inherited from *swappian✻
inherited from swappen — “to swap”

Definitions

1
To exchange or give (something) in an non-normal exchange (for something else).
- In an effort to provide more permanent accommodations, employers may offer employees the opportunity either to swap jobs with a colleague or to transfer to a new position.
- Chief watched these goings-on without pleasure, and waved them off in disgust when the smarmiest of the two suggested he might wish to swap that elk's tooth for this jug of fine rye whiskey.
- The Shah wanted to swap oil for more arms.
2
To hit, to strike.
- And he whipped his sword out of its scabbard, and swapped off the pudding from the black knight's nose. Unfortunately (for him) he swapped off a good bit of the nose, too.
- "Maybe Apes will grow honest, Sister," said Edmund. "But, by the Lion, if he breaks it again, it may be in such time and place that any of us could swap off his head in clean battle."
To beat the air, or ply the wings, with a sweeping motion or noise
To beat the air, or ply the wings, with a sweeping motion or noise; to flap.
›+ 6 more definitionsshow fewer
1. To descend or fall
  To descend or fall; to rush hastily or violently.
2. 5
  An exchange of two comparable things.
  - I e’en changed it, as occasion served, with the skippers o’ Dutch luggers and French vessels, for gin and brandy[…] a gude swap too, between what cheereth the soul of man and that which dingeth it clean out of his body
  - Flores' nephews were each sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment in 2017 for conspiring to import cocaine, but they were released in 2022 by the Biden Administration as part of a prisoner swap with Venezuela.
3. A financial derivative in which two parties agree to exchange one stream of non-normal…
  A financial derivative in which two parties agree to exchange one stream of non-normal cashflow against another stream.
4. 7
  Space available in a swap file for use as auxiliary memory.
  - How much swap do you need?
5. A social meal at a restaurant between two university societies, usually involving…
  A social meal at a restaurant between two university societies, usually involving drinking and banter; commonly associated with fining and pennying; equivalent to a crewdate at Oxford University.
6. A blow
  A blow; a stroke.

The neighborhood

synonymswitch
synonymknock
synonymtap
synonymspeed
synonymzoom

Derived

face-swap, outswap, swap horses in midstream, swap over, swappable, swapper, swap places, swap spit, toswap, unswapped, blue chip swap, bodyswap, bookswap, cookie swap, cum swap, cumswap, face swap, formal swap, full swap, genderswap, hard swap, hot swap, interest rate swap, K-swap, language swap, LS-swap, mindswap, mixed swap, palette swap, prisoner swap, SIM swap, soft swap, swap body, swapbody, swap box, swap chain, swap file, swaplet, swap line, swapling · +14 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at swap. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at swap. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at swap

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA