swipe

Formsswipes, swiping, swiped

Pluralswipes

1. 1
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To control a touch screen by drawing a finger quickly across its surface.

   She swiped the map sideways to reveal the rest of the route.

   Users swipe down to refresh the feed.

   Note

   Here the direction is the instruction: swipe left, swipe down, swipe the slider from left to right. Erica Sadun's Taking Your iPhone to the Max (2008) unlocks the phone with exactly that last phrase. The verb works with or without an object, so you can swipe the slider or simply swipe up. A word of direction usually travels with it, because the gesture means little until you say which way.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To scan or register a card by sliding it through a reader.

   Employees swipe their badges each morning to log their arrival.

   The cashier swiped my credit card through the terminal.

   Similarscan

3. 3
   verbcolloquialtransitive

   To steal or snatch something, usually quickly and without permission.

   He swiped a handful of fries off her plate.

   Thieves swipe unattended phones in crowded cafes.

   Similarsteal, pinch, filch, cop, boost

   Note

   A light, almost jokey word for theft, at home with lunches and five-and-dime dye rather than bank vaults. P. G. Wodehouse's 1923 narrator stacks it with its nearest synonym: "Pinched them! Swiped them!" The two share a register that is playful and suited to petty taking. In a serious account of a crime, steal is the safer choice.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To strike something hard with a broad, sweeping motion.

   The tiger swiped the antelope with a single powerful blow.

   Players swipe the ball away with the flat of the bat.

   Similarswat, strike, hit

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A single movement of the finger drawn quickly across a touch screen to issue a command.

   Each swipe advances the slideshow to the next image.

   A downward swipe refreshes the page.

   Note

   As a noun, the gesture became shorthand for a whole way of meeting people. Alyson Krueger, writing in 2020 about virtual dating, describes New Yorkers "moving beyond the swipe." There the definite article turns one finger movement into the culture of app dating. In interface talk the noun stays countable and literal: a swipe, two swipes, a downward swipe.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A single instance of passing a card through a card reader.

   The system logs every swipe at the entrance.

   Her first swipe failed, so she tried the card again.

   Similarscan

7. 7
   verbintransitive

   To make a quick grabbing or batting motion at something.

   The toddler swiped at the bubbles floating past.

   Bears swipe at salmon as the fish leap upstream.

   Similarbat, grab, snatch

   Note

   The oldest motion in the word: Old English swipian meant to scourge, strike or lash, and Middle English swippen meant to move violently. In this sense the verb takes at, as in the cat swiped at the shoelace, and at marks an attempt rather than a hit. Drop the at and the paw lands. Compare the transitive 'strike' meaning.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   A forceful blow delivered in a sweeping motion, such as with a bat or club.

   A single swipe of the club sent the ball far down the field.

   The lion felled its prey with one swipe.

   Similarblow, stroke, swing, whack

9. 9
   nouncountable

   A quick grab, bat, or sweeping motion made with the hand or paw.

   He took a swipe at the ball as it rolled past.

   The dog's playful swipe knocked the cup over.

   Similarswat, swing, grab

10. 10
    verbcolloquialtransitive

    To indicate romantic interest in someone on a dating app by swiping their profile to the right.

    He swiped her the moment her photo appeared on the screen.

    Plenty of users swipe matches they never bother to message.

    Note

    Dating apps shortened the phrase until the direction vanished: to swipe someone, with the person as object, already means to swipe right on them. Zac Efron's joke that on Tinder "nobody swiped me" depends on it, and so does the denial in Rye Lane (2023), "I didn't swipe you." Without an app in view, the same bare construction would sound like the 'steal' meaning.

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