SWITCH ON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does switch on mean? 

• SWITCH ON (verb)
  The verb SWITCH ON has 1 sense:

1. cause to operate by flipping a switch

  Familiarity information: SWITCH ON used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SWITCH ON (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to operate by flipping a switch

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

switch on; turn on

Context example:

turn on the stereo

Hypernyms (to "switch on" is one way to...):

flip; switch; throw (cause to go on or to be engaged or set in operation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

switch off (cause to stop operating by disengaging a switch)

 Context examples 

Since the discovery in 2009 that brown fat can be active in adult humans, researchers around the world have worked to unveil ways to switch on this fat.

(Giving Brown Fat A Green Light, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Although some of the genes involved in that adaptation exist in the other plants, they do not switch on when the roots are being flooded.

(Grains in the rain, National Science Foundation)

Scientists from Yale University report they managed to trigger instinctive hunting behavior in mice using optogenetics, a manner of priming cells within an organism's brain to switch on when exposed to a laser.

(Geneticists produce laser-activated killer mice, Wikinews)

It is also necessary to increase the number of blood vessels in the tissue to carry nutrients to the fat cells and the number of nerve cells to allow the brain to ‘switch on’ the tissue.

(Study in mice suggests drug to turn fat ‘brown’ could help fight obesity, University of Cambridge)

The study found 48 unique genes following aerobic exercise, and 348 unique genes following weight lifting, that were differentially expressed, meaning the exercises made the genes more powerful or less powerful, like a dimmer switch on a chandelier.

(Molecular Response of Muscle to Different Types of Exercise Identified, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Holmes picked one out, but it was as hard to read by the flickering fire, and he drew out his little dark lantern, for it was too dangerous, with Milverton in the next room, to switch on the electric light.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)