Plug vs. Switch — What's the Difference?

A fitting, commonly with two metal prongs for insertion in a fixed socket, used to connect an appliance to a power supply.

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

An object, such as a cork or a wad of cloth, used to fill a hole tightly; a stopper.

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.

A dense mass of material that obstructs a passage.

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

A usually cylindrical or conic piece cut from something larger, often as a sample.

A slender, flexible shoot cut from a tree.

A spark plug.

A set of points on a railway track.

A hydrant.

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

A flat cake of pressed or twisted tobacco.

Change the position, direction, or focus of

A piece of chewing tobacco.

Beat or flick with or as if with a switch.

(Geology) A mass of igneous rock filling the vent of a volcano.

An exchange or a swap, especially one done secretly.

(Informal) A favorable public mention of a commercial product, business, or performance, especially when broadcast.

A transference or shift, as of opinion or attention.

(Slang) Something inferior, useless, or defective, especially an old, worn-out horse.

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

(Slang) A gunshot or bullet

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

A fishing lure having a hook or hooks.

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

To fill (a hole) tightly with or as if with a plug; stop up.

The bushy tip of the tail of certain animals

To insert (something) as a plug

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

To insert in an appropriate place or position

A flailing or lashing, as with a slender rod

To hit with a bullet; shoot.

To exchange

To hit with the fist; punch.

To shift, transfer, or divert

(Informal) To publicize (a product, for example) favorably, as by mentioning on a broadcast

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

To become stopped up or obstructed

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

(Informal) To move or work doggedly and persistently

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

(electricity) A pronged connecting device which fits into a mating socket, especially an electrical one.

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

(loosely) An electric socket: wall plug.

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

Any piece of wood, metal, or other substance used to stop or fill a hole.

To jerk or swish abruptly or sharply

(US) A flat oblong cake of pressed tobacco.

To make or undergo a shift or an exchange

A high, tapering silk hat.

To swish sharply from side to side.

A worthless horse.

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

(dated) Any worn-out or useless article.

A change or exchange.

A book that fails to sell.

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

(construction) A block of wood let into a wall to afford a hold for nails.

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

(slang) A promotion (act of promoting) a product (such as a book, film or play) or other thing (concept, etc), for example during an interview or a commercial.

(musical instruments) rute.

(geology) A body of once molten rock that hardened in a volcanic vent. Usually round or oval in shape.

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

(fishing) A type of lure consisting of a rigid, buoyant or semi-buoyant body and one or more hooks.

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

(horticulture) A small seedling grown in a tray from expanded polystyrene or polythene filled usually with a peat or compost substrate.

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.

(jewellery) A short cylindrical piece of jewellery commonly worn in larger-gauge body piercings, especially in the ear.

(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.

(slang) A drug dealer.

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

A branch from a water-pipe to supply a hose.

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

(aviation) A standard, modular fuselage component that can be added or removed.

(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.

(transitive) To stop with a plug; to make tight by stopping a hole.

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

(transitive) To blatantly mention a particular product or service as if advertising it.

(transitive) To exchange.

To persist or continue with something.

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

(transitive) To shoot a bullet into something with a gun.

To whip or hit with a switch.

To have sex with, penetrate sexually.

(intransitive) To change places, tasks, etc.

To ingest a drug rectally

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

Any piece of wood, metal, or other substance used to stop or fill a hole; a stopple.

To swing or whisk.

A flat oblong cake of pressed tobacco.

To be swung or whisked.

A high, tapering silk hat.

To trim.

A worthless horse.

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

A block of wood let into a wall, to afford a hold for nails.

(ecclesiastical) To shift to another circuit.

To stop with a plug; to make tight by stopping a hole.

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

Blockage consisting of an object designed to fill a hole tightly

Pertaining to skiing backwards.

A wad of something chewable as tobacco

A small, flexible twig or rod.

Blatant or sensational promotion

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

Electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of an internal-combustion engine and ignites the gas by means of an electric spark

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

An electrical device with two or three pins that is inserted in a socket to make an electrical connection

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

An upright hydrant for drawing water to use in fighting a fire

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

An old or over-worked horse

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

Fill or close tightly with or as if with a plug;

To trim, as, a hedge.

Persist in working hard;

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.

Deliver a quick blow to;

To shift to another circuit.

Make a plug for; praise the qualities or in order to sell or promote

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)