shift

[shift]

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

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

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.

shift

/ 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

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of shift¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of shift¹

Old English sciftan; related to Old Norse skipta to divide, Middle Low German schiften, to separate

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. shift gears. gear.

Example Sentences

The economic outlook has shifted considerably from earlier this year, with economists penciling in more growth and less inflation than previously expected.

Read more on Barron's

The third quarter should be seen as a bridge quarter, with order momentum shifting to year-end, they add.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also sought to shift the focus to the previous Conservative government, which was in power when the alleged offences took place.

Read more on BBC

Meta’s pivot to AI is expected to be a longer and more expensive transition than previous product shifts, increasing the risk that investors could lose patience, Nathanson warned.

Read more on MarketWatch

These shifts could provide a viable path toward a safer, fairer, and more sustainable world.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

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