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Switch vs Alternate - What's the difference?

switch | alternate |

In transitive terms the difference between switch and alternate

is that switch is to whip or hit with a switch while alternate is to perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly.

In intransitive terms the difference between switch and alternate

is that switch is to change places, tasks, etc while alternate is to vary by turns.

switch

English

Noun

(es)
  • A device to turn electric current on]] and [[turn off, off or direct its flow.
  • A change.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=January 19 , author=Jonathan Stevenson , title=Leeds 1 - 3 Arsenal , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Wenger sent on Cesc Fabregas and Van Persie to try to finish Leeds off and with 14 minutes left the switch paid off as the Spaniard sent Bendtner away down the right and his wonderful curling cross was headed in by Van Persie at the far post. }}
  • (rail transport, US) A movable section of railroad track which allows the train to be directed down one of two destination tracks; point.
  • A slender woody plant stem used as a whip; a thin, flexible rod, associated with corporal punishment in the United States.
  • * 2007 , Jeffrey W. Hamilton, Raising Godly Children in a Wicked World , Lulu.com, page 15:
  • "A proper switch is a slim, flexible branch off a tree or a bush. A switch applied to the buttocks stings fiercely. It may leave red marks or bruises, but it causes no lasting damage. ."
  • (computer science) A command line notation allowing specification of optional behavior.
  • Use the /b switch to specify black-and-white printing.
  • (computing, programming) A programming construct that takes different actions depending on the value of an expression.
  • * 2004', "Curt", ''Can I use IF statements, and still use '''switches ?'' (on newsgroup ''microsoft.public.word.mailmerge.fields )
  • (computing, networking) A networking device connecting multiple wires, allowing them to communicate simultaneously, when possible. Compare to the less efficient hub device that solely duplicates network packets to each wire.
  • (telecommunication) A system of specialized relays, computer hardware, or other equipment which allows the interconnection of a calling party's telephone line with any called party's line.
  • (BDSM) One who is willing to take either a sadistic or a masochistic role.
  • * 2012 , Terri-Jean Bedford, Bondage Bungalow Fantasies (page 99)
  • Ideally, if one of your ladies happens to be a switch (or would be willing to switch for this scene), I would love to be able to inflict a little "revenge tickling" as well, as part of a scenario.
  • A separate mass or tress of hair, or of some substance (such as jute) made to resemble hair, formerly worn on the head by women.
  • Synonyms

    * (section of railroad track) (UK ) points * (whip) crop * (command-line notation) flag, option, specifier

    Derived terms

    * asleep at the switch * dipswitch * light switch * railway switch * switchback * switchblade * switchboard * switcheroo * switchout

    Verb

    (es)
  • To exchange.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
  • , page=13 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) , title= Ideas coming down the track , passage=A “moving platform” scheme
  • To change (something) to the specified state using a switch.
  • To whip or hit with a switch.
  • * 1899 , (Joseph Conrad),
  • They were looking on the ground, absorbed in thought. The manager was switching his leg with a slender twig: his sagacious relative lifted his head.
  • To change places, tasks, etc.
  • (slang) To get angry suddenly; to quickly or unreasonably become enraged.
  • To swing or whisk.
  • to switch a cane
  • To be swung or whisked.
  • The angry cat's tail switched back and forth.
  • To trim.
  • to switch a hedge
    (Halliwell)
  • To turn from one railway track to another; to transfer by a switch; generally with off'', ''from , etc.
  • to switch''' off a train; to '''switch a car from one track to another
  • (ecclesiastical) To shift to another circuit.
  • Adjective

    (-)
  • (snowboarding) riding with their opposite foot forward from their natural position. BBC Sport, "Sochi 2014: A jargon-busting guide to the halfpipe", 11 February 2014
  • Coordinate terms

    (snowboarding) * goofy * regular

    See also

    * switch off * switch on

    References

    ----

    alternate

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Being or succeeding by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; by turns first one and then the other; hence, reciprocal.
  • And bid alternate passions fall and rise . -
  • (mathematics) Designating the members in a series, which regularly intervene between the members of another series, as the odd or even numbers of the numerals; every other; every second.
  • the alternate members 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.
  • (US) Other; alternative.
  • Hyperlinked text is displayed in alternate color in a Web browser.
  • (botany) Distributed, as leaves, singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence.
  • (Gray)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • That which alternates with something else; vicissitude.
  • * Matthew Prior
  • Grateful alternates of substantial.
  • (US) A substitute; an alternative; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty.
  • (mathematics) A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means.
  • (US) A replacement of equal or greater value or function.
  • (heraldry) Figures or tinctures that succeed each other by turns.
  • Verb

    (alternat)
  • To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly.
  • * Grew
  • The most high God, in all things appertaining unto this life, for sundry wise ends alternates the disposition of good and evil.
  • To happen, succeed, or act by turns; to follow reciprocally in place or time; followed by with .
  • The flood and ebb tides alternate with each other.
  • To vary by turns.
  • ''The land alternates between rocky hills and sandy plains.

    Derived terms

    * alternate allegation * alternate angles * alternate generation * alternately * alternation

    See also

    * alternative * variant