Swapping

How to spell swapping

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce swapping

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does swapping mean?

1. verbGiving one thing and receiving another in return; exchanging.

Swapping in a sentence

• The two colleagues were swapping shifts so each could attend a family event.

• Swapping a larger house for a flat in the city suited their new budget.

Where does swapping come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word grows out of the verb 'swap', which appears in Middle English as 'swappen' around the 1300s, when it meant to strike or to hit, especially to bring the hands together with a smack. The link to exchange comes from the old custom of striking or clapping hands to seal a bargain, so 'swap' shifted from the blow itself to the deal that the blow confirmed. By the 1600s the modern sense of trading one thing for another was firmly established. The origin is widely thought to be imitative, echoing the sharp sound of a slap or a stroke, which is why dictionaries treat its earliest source as uncertain. The present participle 'swapping' simply adds '-ing', and because 'swap' ends in a single consonant after a short stressed vowel, that final 'p' doubles, which is the spelling point worth remembering.

How the word is built

• swap (to exchange)
• -p- (doubled consonant after a short stressed vowel)
• -ing (present participle/gerund suffix)