swap

present singular third person swaps · participle present swapping · participle past swapped · past swapped · alternative swop

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

   The Shah wanted to swap oil for more arms.

   2011, Andrew Scott Cooper, The Oil Kings: How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East, page 253

   2 more examples

   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.

   1998, Michael Wolf with Bruce Friedman and Daniel Sutherland, Religion in the workplace, page 98

   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.

   2007, Lloyd Zimpel, A Season of Fire and Ice

   Synonyms: exchange, switch, trade, interchange

2. obsoletetransitiveTo 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.

   1954, Edward Eager, Half Magic

   1 more example

   "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."

   1954, C. S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

   Synonyms: bang

3. obsoletetransitiveTo beat the air, or ply the wings, with a sweeping motion or noise; to flap.

   Synonyms: flap

4. intransitiveobsoleteTo descend or fall; to rush hastily or violently.

   Synonyms: fly

plural swaps · alternative swop

1. An exchange of two comparable things.

   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.

   2026 January 5, Callum Sutherland, “Who Is Cilia Flores? What to Know About Maduro’s Wife Amid Fall of Venezuela's First Couple”, in TIME, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2026

   1 more example

   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

   1819, Sir Walter Scott, Tales of My Landlord, The Bride of Lammermoor

   Synonyms: barter, quid pro quo, trade

2. businessA financial derivative in which two parties agree to exchange one stream of non-normal cashflow against another stream.
3. informaluncountablecomputingSpace available in a swap file for use as auxiliary memory.

   How much swap do you need?

4. Cambridge University slangA 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.

plural swaps · alternative swop

1. UKcountabledialectalobsoleteuncountableA blow; a stroke.