swipe

noun

\ ˈswīp

Definition of swipe

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a strong sweeping blow a swipe of a paw

2 : a sharp often critical remark took a parting swipe at management

swipe

verb

swiped; swiping

Definition of swipe (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

: to strike or move with a sweeping motion

transitive verb

1 : to strike or wipe with a sweeping motion

2 : steal, pilfer

3 : to slide (a card with a magnetic strip or bar code) through a slot in a reading device so that information stored on the strip can be processed (as in making a purchase)

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about swipe

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of swipe in a Sentence

Noun

She took a swipe at her former company in her latest column. a swipe of the cat's paw

Verb

The cat swiped the dog across the nose. They swiped some candy from the store. The cashier swiped the credit card and gave it back to me.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

This isn’t the first time Cook has taken a swipe at Silicon Valley rivals over their data and privacy practices. — Cat Zakrzewski, Washington Post, "The Technology 202: Silicon Valley's diversity advocates welcome Elizabeth Warren's latest plan," 17 June 2019 The toy mogul Isaac Larian strode to the dais during his industry’s premier event, the Toy Association’s Toy of the Year Awards ceremony in February, to claim the top prize—and to take a swipe at a nemesis. — Paul Ziobro, WSJ, "Toy Mogul Isaac Larian Plays for Keeps," 7 June 2019 Huawei also added a three-finger swipe gesture to the two Matebooks, allowing you to capture a screenshot by swiping down the screen. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Huawei refreshes the Matebook X Pro and adds a larger Matebook 14," 24 Feb. 2019 Users can also swipe up on the destination to see current fare prices, or swipe left and right to get information about which places currently have the cheapest flights. — Condé Nast Traveler, "'Travel Deal Tuesday' Is Like Black Friday for Flights," 12 Nov. 2018 This isn’t a swipe at those friends, but rather an illustration of how sharing pronouns is currently imposed on trans people. — Samantha Riedel, Teen Vogue, "How to Break Away From the Gender Binary," 26 Oct. 2018 The new Safari feature is a direct swipe at the data-collection practices of big internet companies that Apple has tried hard to separate itself from. — New York Times, "Apple Shuns the Tech Industry’s Apology Tour," 4 June 2018 That necessarily wasn’t a swipe at his former Chiefs teammates, however. — Terez A. Paylor, kansascity, "Marcus Peters speaks on Rams trade, relationship with Andy Reid and Alex Smith trade | The Kansas City Star," 26 Feb. 2018 And no wonder: Who doesn’t love a high impact punch in a one-second swipe? — Glamour, "Beauty Awards: The 22 Best Makeup Products of the Year," 25 Mar. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Staff, armed with mobile devices and Bluetooth printers, will help customers pay by swiping their credit card and provide them with a paper or electronic receipt. — Anne D'innocenzio, The Seattle Times, "Walmart expands speedier checkout service," 30 Oct. 2018 Tired of swiping right all day and getting no bites on your online dating profile? — Alexander Stoklosa, Car and Driver, "Put a Jeep in Your Online Dating Profile Now—You'll Get More Messages," 16 May 2019 But here's a little secret: Top makeup artists almost never open one tube of mascara, swipe the wand a few times, and call it a day. — Elizabeth Siegel, Allure, "Why Makeup Artists Swear by Using Two Mascaras to Make Your Eyes Stand Out," 10 Oct. 2018 Between double-tapping your way through Instagram, swiping right and left on dating apps, and, oh, right, work, there’s no denying most of us spend a heck of a lot of time staring at screens. — Sarah Klein, Health.com, "3 Tricks to Help Your Eyes When You're Staring at Your Phone All the Time," 6 June 2018 The greatest generation isn't always so great at uploading, downloading, swiping and clicking. — Beth Thames, AL.com, "We like cats because, like us, they're attracted to comfort," 1 Mar. 2018 Time will only tell if Justin swipes the jacket from his wife. — Vogue, "Hailey Bieber Takes a Page Out of Her Husband’s Style Playbook," 2 May 2019 Salloi apologized to Opara at halftime for swiping his goal. — Sam Mcdowell, kansascity, "Yohan Croizet lifts Sporting KC to Open Cup win with last-minute strike from distance," 16 June 2018 These monkeys can be quite sneaky and a bit mischievous, often known for swiping sunglasses off unsuspecting heads or nabbing food from plates left unattended for mere seconds. — Sarah Bowman, Indianapolis Star, "New Macaque monkeys at Indianapolis Zoo known for swimming, diving and photo-bombing," 22 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'swipe.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.