Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A sweeping blow or stroke.
  • noun Informal A critical remark.
  • noun A lever, especially one that raises the bucket in a well.
  • intransitive verb To hit with a sweeping motion.
  • intransitive verb To pass (a swipe card) through an electronic reader.
  • intransitive verb Informal To steal; filch. synonym: steal.
  • intransitive verb To make a sweeping stroke.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as sweep, 10.
  • noun A hard blow; a stroke with the full swing of the arms, as in cricket or golf.
  • To strike with a long or wide sweeping blow; deliver a hard blow or stroke with the full swing of the arms; strike or drive with great force.
  • To drink, or drink off, hastily.
  • To snatch; steal by snatching; steal.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A swape or sweep. See sweep.
  • noun A strong blow given with a sweeping motion, as with a bat or club.
  • noun Slang, Eng. Poor, weak beer; small beer.
  • transitive verb To give a swipe to; to strike forcibly with a sweeping motion, as a ball.
  • transitive verb Slang, U.S. To pluck; to snatch; to steal.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To steal or snatch.
  • verb transitive To scan or register by sliding something through a reader.
  • verb intransitive To grab or bat quickly.
  • noun countable A quick grab, bat, or other motion with the hand or paw; A sweep.
  • noun countable A strong blow given with a sweeping motion, as with a bat or club.
  • noun countable, informal A rough guess; an estimate or swag.
  • noun uncountable Poor, weak beer; small beer.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sweeping stroke or blow
  • verb strike with a swiping motion
  • verb make off with belongings of others

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps variant of sweep.]

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Examples

  • To swipe from a southern naming tradition, the daughter usually gets her paternal grandmother’s maiden name as a middle name.

    hypothetically … « Love | Peace | Ohana 2008

  • The proposed rule, which limits the so-called swipe fee that debit-card issuers charge merchants, has been a flashpoint in the fight over financial regulations.

    Banking Industry Girds for Debit-Card War in Court David Benoit 2011

  • It would limit so-called swipe fees at 12 cents per debit-card transaction, a significant cut from the average of 44 cents.

    Senator Targets Debit-Card Swipe Rule Victoria McGrane 2011

  • The financial industry seems to be turning to Plan B: urging the Fed to revamp its plan to limit the debit-card fees known as swipe fees or interchange fees.

    Banks Dealt a Debit Setback Victoria McGrane 2011

  • The Fed put out a draft proposal in December, which would cap so-called swipe fees to 12 cents.

    Fed to Try to Shield Small Banks From Debit-Fee Caps Victoria McGrane 2011

  • With banks standing to receive 50% less revenue from so-called swipe fees because of the regulations, they could pressure Visa and MasterCard to lower other fees the banks pay the processors for their services, analysts say.

    MasterCard Net Climbs 38% As Transaction Volume Rises Andrew R. Johnson 2011

  • The Fed proposal would cap the debit-card transaction fees, also called swipe fees or interchange fees, at 12 cents per transaction, a significant drop from the current 44-cent-per-transaction average that would eat into banks' debit-card fee profits.

    Banks, Retailers to Face Off Over Fed's Debit-Card Rule Maya Jackson Randall 2011

  • The proposed rule, which limits the so-called swipe fee that debit-card issuers charge merchants, has been a flashpoint in the fight over financial regulations.

    Banking Industry Girds for Debit-Card War in Court David Benoit 2011

  • The financial industry seems to be turning to Plan B: urging the Fed to revamp its plan to limit the debit-card fees known as swipe fees or interchange fees.

    Banks Dealt a Debit Setback Victoria McGrane 2011

  • Last year, 10 state treasurers successfully prodded lawmakers to shield prepaid debit cards from part of the Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law that limits so-called "swipe fees" charged to retailers.

    Drawing Benefits Via a Debit Card? There's a Fee for That Jessica Silver-Greenberg 2011

  • Swipe right This phrase is associated with an action on many dating apps. To swipe right means to indicate interest or attraction in a person.

    Bulky Cameras, Meet The Lens-less FlatCam Laura Roman 2018

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