switch on
To press a switch to make something start working, or to suddenly start showing a quality like charm when you need to.
Meanings
To activate a machine, device, or light by using a switch or button.
"Switch on the heating — it's absolutely freezing in here."
To deliberately activate or display a personal quality such as charm, enthusiasm, or a skill when the situation calls for it.
"She switched on her professional smile the moment the clients walked through the door."
To make someone feel excited, interested, or stimulated by something.
"Jazz was the music that really switched him on when he was a teenager."
One of the most fundamental phrasal verbs in English. The figurative sense ('switch on the charm') implies deliberately activating a personal quality in a calculated way and is common in informal speech.
Commonly used with
Forms
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Synonyms
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