switch
5
8.9
- noun
- /swɪtʃ/
- NSFW
:
vara
- I got a thrashing with a willow switch when I got home, too.
- willow switch
- hickory switch
- birch switch
Examples
-
If you don't be quiet, you'll get a switch.
-
All five of them, those Thorton kids with switches ripped from the trunks of unsuspecting trees.
Fiction book (1998) -
Make you go outside and get your own switch.
-
"Each of you go to the hedge and cut the switch you want me to use on you," she said.
Fiction book (1991) -
She used a switch on me at least twice a day.
-
She would make me cut a fresh switch from the tree in the front yard every day.
-
But she had scarcely ever had to lay a switch to Nettie.
Fiction book (1992) -
He was punished with a switch when he misbehaved at home.
-
In her childhood, she often felt the sting of a switch for not doing her chores.
-
The teacher disciplined the rowdy students with a thin switch from the yard.
Synonyms
29
7.7
A long thin stick used to punish someone at school
4
6.3
The flexible leather strip at the end of a whip
A thin flexible stick used to punish children at school
A bundle of thin birch twigs used to hit someone as punishment
A flat stick teachers use to hit students' hands or desks
Idioms
Compounds
- Specialized
1
6.3
A small group of tiny manual controls on electronic devices that set options
1
2.8
A device that connects and cuts the flow of electricity to turn a light or machine on and off
- Slang
1
9.9
An informal term for a person who is sexually attracted to both men and women
- Specialized
A small row of tiny switches on a computer board used to set hardware options
- Specialized
A tall North American grass that farmers cut for hay and to prevent soil erosion
- US
A quickly growing bush that stays green all year with arching crossed branches and white flower clusters
- Specialized
A device with three wires that lets you turn lights on or off from two places
- Specialized
A device that lets you turn a light on or off from two different places
How Thin
Surface Forms
Etymology
A switch meaning a thin branch used for punishment is the oldest sense: it was a small, flexible twig people used for striking, which is why that twig became called a switch.