shift

American  

[shift] / ʃɪft /

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.

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

---

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

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

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

“Earnings are the market’s chance to shift the conversation away from geopolitics and refocus on the fundamentals,” said Bret Kenwell, a U.S. investment analyst with eToro.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

Shona Campbell and Lucia Scott ran in tries for Scotland after a huge momentum shift in the second half, while Wales captain Kate Williams pulled one back to set up a frantic finale.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

"In our situation, we assume that the shift in membrane composition is triggered by hyperactivity of the affected neurons due to Alzheimer's disease. That is, these neurons exhibit abnormal firing."

From Science Daily • Apr. 11, 2026

It’s part of a broader shift toward building new demand engines as exports and investments lose some of their punch.

From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026

But we knew all too well that any minute it could get out and the whole landscape of the future would shift.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Related Words

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