Switch vs. Commutator

Switchnoun

A device to turn electric current on and off or direct its flow.

Switchnoun

A change.

Switchnoun

A movable section of railroad track which allows the train to be directed down one of two destination tracks; point.

Switchnoun

A slender woody plant stem used as a whip; a thin, flexible rod, associated with corporal punishment in the United States.

Switchnoun

(computer science) A command line notation allowing specification of optional behavior.

Switchnoun

A programming construct that takes different actions depending on the value of an expression.

Switchnoun

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.

Switchnoun

(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.

Switchnoun

(BDSM) One who is willing to take either a submissive or a dominant role in a sexual relationship.

Switchverb

(transitive) To exchange.

Switchverb

(transitive) To change (something) to the specified state using a switch.

Switchverb

(transitive) To whip or hit with a switch.

Switchverb

(intransitive) To change places, tasks, etc.

Switchverb

To get angry suddenly; to quickly or unreasonably become enraged.

Switchverb

To swing or whisk.

Switchverb

To be swung or whisked.

Switchverb

To trim.

Switchverb

To turn from one railway track to another; to transfer by a switch; generally with off, from, etc.

Switchverb

(ecclesiastical) To shift to another circuit.

Switchadjective

(snowboarding) Pertaining to riding with the front and back feet swapped round compared to one's normal position.

Switchadjective

Pertaining to skiing backwards.

Switchnoun

A small, flexible twig or rod.

Switchnoun

A movable part of a rail; or of opposite rails, for transferring cars from one track to another.

Switchnoun

A separate mass or trees of hair, or of some substance (at jute) made to resemble hair, worn on the head by women.

Switchnoun

A device for shifting an electric current to another circuit, or for making and breaking a circuit.

Switchverb

To strike with a switch or small flexible rod; to whip.

Switchverb

To swing or whisk; as, to switch a cane.

Switchverb

To trim, as, a hedge.

Switchverb

To turn from one railway track to another; to transfer by a switch; - generally with off, from, etc.; as, to switch off a train; to switch a car from one track to another.

Switchverb

To shift to another circuit.

Switchverb

To walk with a jerk.

Switchnoun

control consisting of a mechanical or electrical or electronic device for making or breaking or changing the connections in a circuit

Switchnoun

an event in which one thing is substituted for another;

Switchnoun

hairpiece consisting of a tress of false hair; used by women to give shape to a coiffure

Switchnoun

railroad track having two movable rails and necessary connections; used to turn a train from one track to another or to store rolling stock

Switchnoun

a flexible implement used as an instrument of punishment

Switchnoun

a basketball maneuver; two defensive players shift assignments so that each guards the player usually guarded by the other

Switchnoun

the act of changing one thing or position for another;

Switchverb

change over, change around, or switch over

Switchverb

exchange or give (something) in exchange for

Switchverb

lay aside, abandon, or leave for another;

Switchverb

make a shift in or exchange of;

Switchverb

cause to go on or to be engaged or set in operation;

Switchverb

flog with or as if with a flexible rod

Switchverb

reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action)

Switchnoun

a device for making and breaking the connection in an electric circuit

Switchnoun

a program variable which activates or deactivates a certain function of a program.

Switchnoun

a device which forwards data packets to an appropriate part of the network.

Switchnoun

an act of changing to or adopting one thing in place of another

Switchnoun

a slender, flexible shoot cut from a tree.

Switchnoun

a set of points on a railway track.

Switchnoun

a tress of false or detached hair tied at one end, used in hairdressing to supplement natural hair.

Switchverb

change the position, direction, or focus of

Switchverb

adopt (something different) in place of something else; change

Switchverb

substitute (two items) for each other; exchange

Switchverb

beat or flick with or as if with a switch.

Switch

In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of switch is an electromechanical device consisting of one or more sets of movable electrical contacts connected to external circuits.

Commutatornoun

An electrical switch, in a generator or motor, that periodically reverses the direction of an electric current.

Commutatornoun

(group theory) A binary map in a given group G, given by [g, h] = ghg−1h−1, where g and h are elements of G, which yields the group's identity if and only if the group operation commutes for g and h.

Commutatornoun

(ring theory) A binary map in a given ring R, given by [a, b] = ab − ba, where a and b are elements of R, which yields the ring's zero element if and only if the multiplication operation commutes for a and b.

Commutatornoun

A piece of apparatus used for reversing the direction of an electrical current; an attachment to certain electrical machines, by means of which alternating currents are made to be continuous or to have the same direction. It may be attached to the end of the spindle of an electric motor, where a brush is in contact sequentially with the parts of the spindle that conduct current to the different windings of the motor.

Commutatornoun

switch for reversing the direction of an electric current

Commutator

In mathematics, the commutator gives an indication of the extent to which a certain binary operation fails to be commutative. There are different definitions used in group theory and ring theory.