swap

The word “swap” means to exchange one thing for another. In plain terms, to trade one thing for another, or the trade itself.

“Swap” is pronounced SWOP (/ˈswɑp/ in IPA).

Here is “swap” used in a sentence: “The kids swapped lunches at recess.”

Words with a similar meaning to “swap” include switch, knock, speed, tap and zoom.

Depending on how it is used, “swap” can be a verb and a noun.

The word “swap” comes from Middle English. From Middle English swappen, originally meaning "to strike" — the idea being that people once struck hands together to seal a trade.

“Swap” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the C1 level.

“Swap” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to exchange one thing for another.

Swap emphasises exchanging two comparable things between people or places, as in swapping seats with a friend. Switch emphasises changing from one thing to another and can be one-directional, as in switching brands, though the two overlap when both parties exchange places.

A swap is a direct exchange of one thing for another comparable thing, usually without money changing hands. Trade often involves buying and selling or a commercial transaction, so it more commonly includes money.

In finance, a swap is a contract in which two parties agree to exchange streams of payments with each other. A common example is an interest-rate swap, where one party's variable interest payments are exchanged for another's fixed payments.

The correct spellings double the final p: swapped and swapping. Because swap ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant, that consonant is doubled before adding -ed or -ing.