shift

American  

[shift] / ʃɪft /

verb (used with object)

• shifts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shifted,
  past participle,  past
• shifting
  present participle

1. to put (something) aside and replace it by another or others; change or exchange.

   to shift friends;

   to shift ideas.

   Synonyms:

   substitute

2. to transfer from one place, position, person, etc., to another.

   to shift the blame onto someone else.

3. Automotive. to change (gears) from one ratio or arrangement to another.

4. Linguistics. to change in a systematic way, especially phonetically.

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verb (used without object)

• shifts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shifted,
  past participle,  past
• shifting
  present participle

1. to move from one place, position, direction, etc., to another.

2. to manage to get along or succeed by oneself.

3. to get along by indirect methods; use any expediency, trick, or evasion to get along or succeed.

   He shifted through life.

4. to change gears in driving an automobile.

5. Linguistics. to undergo a systematic, especially phonetic, change.

6. to press a shift key, as on a typewriter keyboard.

7. Archaic. to change one's clothes.

noun

• shifts
  plural

1. a change or transfer from one place, position, direction, person, etc., to another.

   a shift in the wind.

2. a person's scheduled period of work, especially the portion of the day scheduled as a day's work when a shop, service, office, or industry operates continuously during both the day and night.

   She prefers the morning shift.

3. a group of workers scheduled to work during such a period.

   The night shift reported.

4. Baseball. a notable repositioning by several fielders to the left or the right of their normal playing position, an occasional strategy against batters who usually hit the ball to the same side of the field.

5. Automotive. a gearshift.

6. Clothing.

   1. a straight, loose-fitting dress worn with or without a belt.

   2. a woman's chemise or slip.

7. Football. a lateral or backward movement from one position to another, usually by two or more offensive players just before the ball is put into play.

8. Mining. a dislocation of a seam or stratum; fault.

9. Music. a change in the position of the left hand on the fingerboard in playing a stringed instrument.

10. Linguistics.

    1. a change or system of parallel changes that affects the sound structure of a language, as the series of related changes in the English vowel system from Middle English to Modern English.

    2. a change in the meaning or use of a word.

11. an expedient; ingenious device.

    Synonyms:

    resort, resource, contrivance

12. an evasion, artifice, or trick.

    Synonyms:

    stratagem, subterfuge, ruse, wile

13. change or substitution.

14. Bridge. shift bid.

15. Agriculture. (in crop rotation)

    1. any of successive crops.

    2. the tract of land used.

16. an act or instance of using the shift key, as on a typewriter keyboard.

idioms

1. shift gears. gear.

shift British  

/ ʃɪft /

verb

1. to move or cause to move from one place or position to another

2. (tr) to change for another or others

3. to change (gear) in a motor vehicle

4. (intr) (of a sound or set of sounds) to alter in a systematic way

5. (intr) to provide for one's needs (esp in the phrase shift for oneself )

6. (intr) to proceed by indirect or evasive methods

7. to remove or be removed, esp with difficulty

   no detergent can shift these stains

8. slang (intr) to move quickly

9. (tr) computing to move (bits held in a store location) to the left or right

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noun

1. the act or an instance of shifting

2. a group of workers who work for a specific period

3. the period of time worked by such a group

4. an expedient, contrivance, or artifice

5. the displacement of rocks, esp layers or seams in mining, at a geological fault

6. an underskirt or dress with little shaping

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shifter
  noun
• shiftingness
  noun
• reshift
  verb
• transshift
  verb
• intershifting
  adjective
• unshifting
  adjective
• shiftingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shifts
  plural

Participles

• shifting
  present
• shifted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• shift
  simple
• shifts
  simple
• have shifted
  perfect
• has shifted
  perfect
• am shifting
  progressive
• are shifting
  progressive
• is shifting
  progressive
• have been shifting
  perfect progressive
• has been shifting
  perfect progressive

Past

• shifted
  simple
• had shifted
  perfect
• was shifting
  progressive
• were shifting
  progressive
• had been shifting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will shift
  simple
• will have shifted
  perfect
• will be shifting
  progressive
• will have been shifting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of shift

First recorded before 1000; Middle English verb shiften “to arrange,” Old English sciftan; cognate with German schichten “to arrange in order,” Old Norse skipta “to divide”; noun derivative of the verb

Explanation

Shift the verb and shift the noun are very similar in meaning. A shift is a change in something or an adjustment in the way something is done. You can either make a shift (that's the noun), or you can just shift (that's the verb). What makes a shift different from, say, a change is that it implies some kind of movement; a sense that the thing that you're shifting is still the same thing, just moving in a different direction. For example, when you shift gears in a car you're simply moving from one gear to another. If you shift your focus, you're still focused, but the focus has moved. If the government shifts its policy, that policy, while different, is still a policy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shift shifts shifted shifting

Markets will move up and down, your dreams might shift a little bit more to the west or the east, and unexpected situations might arise.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

First, the 25-cent shift appears to me to reflect gasoline prices rising faster outside California, not any meaningful reduction in California shipping costs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

By making it easier to upgrade lignin and convert it into higher-value products, the research could support a broader shift away from traditional linear petroleum-derived chemical production and toward a more circular, biomass-based economy.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

Asked if the shift away from Bitcoin mining might affect the security or stability of the cryptocurrency, Zhao said he hoped more miners will enter the market as conditions improve.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

The last hour of my shift is a farce.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Autistic people of all genders often struggle with nuances of social communication like decoding nonverbal cues, identifying shifts in tone or asking reciprocal questions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

In 2023, a French nurse who had worked night shifts for 28 years and been exposed to radiation succeeded in having her breast cancer recognised as an occupational disease.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

And when that happens, the focus shifts from their patient’s needs to their own worldview.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

The change in the distribution of heat across the ocean - and shifts in the wind patterns in the atmosphere above - can have wide ranging effects on the weather right across the globe.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

When the breeze shifts so it’s coming from the ocean, it feels almost icy cold in comparison to the sun-warmed air.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Manchester City's position has shifted following Wednesday's signing of Ayyoub Bouaddi.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

But with mortgage rates currently above 6% and homes priced at elevated levels, Linden has now shifted her priorities, turning her savings energy toward goals like retirement.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

By June the committee’s forecasts abruptly shifted toward an increase, trailing the market signals by months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Now that your fans have been living with these songs for several months, I’m curious if performing them live has shifted your relationship with them at all?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

To his left, one of the toppled trees shifted, bumping hard against another tree.

From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret

Stock traders were even less moved by the news, with the major indexes of the biggest companies listed in the US, Europe, and Asia barely shifting.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Some are shifting to Mediterranean plants, Bennellick said, "more grasses, more herbaceous perennials that can survive the drought conditions".

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Nvidia’s venture into financing could help it fulfill shifting demand.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

“This is a plan without any purpose,” like shifting a bag of sand in the back seat of your car to the trunk, Brusca said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

“Whoa!” he says, quickly shifting back and putting a hand over his chest to try and slow his breathing and heart rate down.

From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone

Related Words

• alter
• change
• deviate
• drift
• move
• relocate
• remove
• ship
• shuffle
• transfer
• turn
• vary
• veer