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

Contaminants within the plasma and extremely strong magnetic fields can shift the location of this passage, increasing the Q value needed to reach it.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

He’s both charming and chilling, expertly using a near-imperceptible shift in expression or tone to keep the audience on their toes.

From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026

That shift, she argues, turned Peru into a fishmeal superpower, responsible for roughly a quarter of worldwide production.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

So are women actually feeling more anger - and what is driving that shift - or are they just more open about it?

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

“And we could never get her to come out to dinner with us, because if she didn’t wash her dress immediately after her shift then it wouldn’t have time to dry before the next morning.”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Barclays writes that the attempts by legacy media companies to adapt to major technological shifts have created “monsters” that eventually collapse.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Climate experts have warned that the 2026-2027 El Niño is likely to cause major shifts in weather patterns around the world, intensifying droughts in some areas and floods in others.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

If that trade shifts, the index is likely to take notice, especially if rates don’t come down and other sectors can’t rally to offset weakness in the S&P 500.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

As that center shifts, scientists can detect minute changes in the distances between orbiting satellites and tracking stations on the ground.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

All night long they rotated in shifts from the pumps, to the axes, and back again.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

In prepared remarks at the Istanbul Economic Forum, Christopher Waller said the economic data underscoring the need for interest-rate increases hasn’t shifted much.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Under that scenario, the giant planets shifted significantly from their original positions.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

Deol said that since the crackdown, his workforce has shifted from about 200 Indian drivers to roughly 20.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Balaban shifted to the role of chief technology officer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

“Uh . . .” He shifted his eyes away from her face.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

In “An American Dream,” the point of view seems to keep shifting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

Lior Yohanani, a sociologist at Tel Aviv University who studies diaspora military service, says the profile of recruits is shifting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Instead, the planet responds to the shifting weight of water, ice, and the atmosphere.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

It is also shifting the population to renewable electricity, with a 2035 target to reduce emissions to 62-70 percent below 2005 levels.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

Finally, I sense Mr. Kellerman shifting as he leans his considerable weight back against the door behind us.

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell

Related Words

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