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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

swap.

To exchange or give (something) in an non-normal exchange (for something else).

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈswɒp/Received-Pronunciation/ˈswɑp/General-American
  1. To exchange or give (something) in an non-normal exchange (for something else).

    transitive
  2. To hit, to strike.

    obsolete · transitive
  3. To beat the air, or ply the wings, with a sweeping motion or noise; to flap.

    obsolete · transitive
  4. To descend or fall; to rush hastily or violently.

    intransitive · obsolete
Where this word comes from

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.

noun/ˈswɒp/Received-Pronunciation/ˈswɑp/General-American
  1. An exchange of two comparable things.

  2. A financial derivative in which two parties agree to exchange one stream of non-normal cashflow against another stream.

  3. Space available in a swap file for use as auxiliary memory.

    informal · uncountable
    How much swap do you need?
  4. 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.

Where this word comes from

From the verb swap. First attested in 1620.

noun/ˈswɒp/Received-Pronunciation/ˈswɑp/General-American
  1. A blow; a stroke.

    UK · countable · dialectal · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English swap, swappe (“a blow, strike, lash from a whip”), from the verb (see Etymology 1 above).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.