swap line

noun

A procedure whereby a central bank (usually the United States Federal Reserve) trades money with a foreign bank in one currency in exchange for an equivalent amount of money in the foreign bank's domestic currency, for the purpose of alleviating a currency shortage.

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Meanings

nounswap line (plural swap lines)

plural swap lines

  1. bankingA procedure whereby a central bank (usually the United States Federal Reserve) trades money with a foreign bank in one currency in exchange for an equivalent amount of money in the foreign bank's domestic currency, for the purpose of alleviating a currency shortage.

    [Donald Trump] could determine which countries have access to swap lines, and on what terms. Swap lines are the lifeblood of the entire global financial system. It's hard to imagine a greater source of leverage for the administration.

    2025 July 31, Leah Downey, “What could a Trump appointee do at the Fed?”, in Financial Times, page 17

Origin

swap + line (“of credit”)

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

swap line. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swap%20line

MLA

“swap line.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swap%20line. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “swap line,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swap%20line.

Source: swap line on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.