Hub vs. Switch — What's the Difference?

Boston, Massachusetts. Used with the.

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.

The center part of a wheel, fan, or propeller.

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

A center of activity or interest; a focal point

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

The central part, usually cylindrical, of a wheel; the nave.

A slender, flexible shoot cut from a tree.

A point where many routes meet and traffic is distributed, dispensed, or diverted.

A set of points on a railway track.

A central facility providing a range of related services, such as a medical hub or an educational hub.

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

(networking) A computer networking device connecting several Ethernet ports. See switch.

Change the position, direction, or focus of

(surveying) A stake with a nail in it, used to mark a temporary point.

Beat or flick with or as if with a switch.

A male weasel; a buck; a dog; a jack.

An exchange or a swap, especially one done secretly.

(US) A rough protuberance or projecting obstruction.

A transference or shift, as of opinion or attention.

(video games) An area in a video game from which individual levels are accessed.

A device used to break or open an electric circuit or to divert current from one conductor to another.

A goal or mark at which quoits, etc., are thrown.

A device consisting of two sections of railroad track and accompanying apparatus used to transfer rolling stock from one track to another.

A hardened, engraved steel punch for impressing a device upon a die, used in coining, etc.

A slender flexible rod, stick, or twig, especially one used for whipping.

A screw hob.

The bushy tip of the tail of certain animals

A block for scotching a wheel.

A thick strand of real or synthetic hair used as part of a coiffure.

The central part, usually cylindrical, of a wheel; the nave. See Illust. of Axle box.

A flailing or lashing, as with a slender rod

The hilt of a weapon.

To exchange

A rough protuberance or projecting obstruction; as, a hub in the road. [U.S.] See Hubby.

To shift, transfer, or divert

A goal or mark at which quoits, etc., are cast.

To connect, disconnect, or divert (an electric current) by operating a switch.

A hardened, engraved steel punch for impressing a device upon a die, used in coining, etc.

To cause (an electric current or appliance) to begin or cease operation

A screw hob. See Hob, 3.

(Informal) To produce as if by operating a control. Often used with on

A block for scotching a wheel.

To move (rolling stock) from one track to another; shunt.

The central location within which activities tend to concentrate, or from which activities radiate outward; a focus of activity.

To whip with a switch, especially in punishing a child.

A large airport used as a central transfer station for an airline, permitting economic air transportation between remote locations by directing travellers through the hub, often changing planes at the hub, and thus keeping the seat occupancy rate on the airplanes high. The hub together with the feeder lines from remote locations constitute the so-called hub and spoke system of commercial air passenger transportation. A commercial airline may have more than one such hub.

To jerk or swish abruptly or sharply

The city of Boston, Massachusetts referred to locally by the nickname The Hub.

To make or undergo a shift or an exchange

The central part of a car wheel (or fan or propeller etc) through which the shaft or axle passes

To swish sharply from side to side.

A center of activity or interest or commerce or transportation; a focal point around which events revolve;

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

A change or exchange.

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

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

(musical instruments) rute.

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

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

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.

(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.

(genetics) A mechanism within DNA that activates or deactivates a gene.

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

(historical) A separate mass or tress of hair, or of some substance (such as jute) made to resemble hair, formerly worn on the head by women.

(card games) A variant of crazy eights where one card, such as an ace, reverses the direction of play.

(transitive) To exchange.

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

To whip or hit with a switch.

(intransitive) To change places, tasks, etc.

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

To swing or whisk.

To be swung or whisked.

To trim.

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

(ecclesiastical) To shift to another circuit.

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

Pertaining to skiing backwards.

A small, flexible twig or rod.

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

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

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

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

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

To trim, as, a hedge.

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.

To shift to another circuit.

To walk with a jerk.

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

An event in which one thing is substituted for another;

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

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

A flexible implement used as an instrument of punishment

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

The act of changing one thing or position for another;

Change over, change around, or switch over

Exchange or give (something) in exchange for

Lay aside, abandon, or leave for another;

Make a shift in or exchange of;

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

Flog with or as if with a flexible rod

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