toggle

Meanings

Noun

• A wooden or metal pin, short rod, crosspiece or similar, fixed transversely in the eye of a rope or chain to be secured to any other loop, ring, or bight, e.g. a sea painter to a lifeboat.
• A rod-shaped button bound with slack to the fabric.
• A toggle switch.
• An appliance for transmitting force at right angles to its direction.
• A horizontal piece of wood that is placed on a door, flat, or other wooden structure, but is not on one of the edges of the structure.
• A loop of webbing or a dowel affixed to the end of the steering/brake lines of a parachute providing the pilot with a means of control.

Verb

• To alternate between two positions using a single switch or lever.
• To switch between alternate states.
• To fix like a toggle iron; to fix fast.

Origin

• Of uncertain origin. Possible alteration of tug + -le