exchange: Meaning and Definition of

ex•change

Pronunciation: (iks-chānj'), [key]
— v., n. -changed, -chang•ing,
—v.t.
  1. to give up (something) for something else; part with for some equivalent; change for another.
  2. to replace (returned merchandise) with an equivalent or something else: Most stores will allow the purchaser to exchange goods.
  3. to give and receive reciprocally; interchange: to exchange blows; to exchange gifts.
  4. to part with in return for some equivalent; transfer for a recompense; barter: to exchange goods with foreign countries.
  5. to capture (an enemy piece) in return for a capture by the opponent generally of pieces of equal value.
—v.i.
  1. to make an exchange; engage in bartering, replacing, or substituting one thing for another.
  2. to pass or be taken in exchange or as an equivalent.
—n.
  1. the act, process, or an instance of exchanging: The contesting nations arranged for an exchange of prisoners; money in exchange for services.
  2. something that is given or received in exchange or substitution for something else: The car was a fair exchange.
  3. a place for buying and selling commodities, securities, etc., typically open only to members.
  4. a central office or central station: a telephone exchange.
  5. the method or system by which debits and credits in different places are settled without the actual transfer of money, by means of bills of exchange representing money values.
  6. the discharge of obligations in different places by the transfer of credits.
  7. the amount or percentage charged for exchanging money, collecting a draft, etc.
  8. the reciprocal transfer of equivalent sums of money, as in the currencies of two different countries.
  9. the giving or receiving of a sum of money in one place for a bill ordering the payment of an equivalent sum in another.
  10. See
  11. the amount of the difference in value between two or more currencies, or between the values of the same currency at two or more places.
  12. the checks, drafts, etc., exchanged at a clearinghouse.
  13. a reciprocal capture of pieces of equivalent value by opponents in a single series of moves.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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