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

If JetZero can cross the line, the blended-wing aircraft would mark the biggest shift in passenger-jetliner design since the supersonic Concorde.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

“We’ve had a major paradigm change, a major regime shift in the capital cycle. The capital cycle was funding financial engineering, now the capital cycle is funding a new tectonic life-changing technology,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

In the UK research suggests around one in ten couples now has a prenup, following a legal shift in England towards greater recognition.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Caldwell also purchased 23,000 iPads to replace the aging tablets servers used to take orders, which often had such poor battery life they couldn’t last a full shift, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

I yelp, but it’s only the operator come to take over my shift.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Currency shifts also did little to encourage international buyers over the past year.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

Also signing the letter with Beutner were leaders of the group Parents Supporting Teachers, which had helped gather data documenting the funding shifts — data that L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

They say the country has benefited from both long-term production shifts under the China+1 strategy and near-term trade diversion away from China.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

"Wimbledon has understood one of the biggest shifts in global marketing. For decades, premium brands believed exclusivity came from distance. However, today they understand that exclusivity comes from belonging," says Bhalla.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Until further notice, crews would fly twenty-four-hour shifts, refueled in the air, ready at a moment’s notice to proceed to their targets.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Earlier this year, civil rights attorneys deposed two ICE deportation officers and learned the agency had shifted from conducting targeted enforcement operations to making collateral arrests.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Meta responded by laying off staff at Reality Labs and cutting costs—although the unit continued to lose money at a rapid clip as its focus shifted toward AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

“The current setup resembles early-to-mid 2021, when leadership shifted toward quality after an early-cycle rebound post-covid,” strategists at the investment bank led by Michael Wilson wrote in a note published Monday.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

Brain regions that had not been communicating properly shifted toward more typical patterns.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

Then the shock wore off, and his attention shifted immediately to the fact that he couldn’t feel most of his body, and that he’d never been so cold in his entire life.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

Bunge is dealing with a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty and shifting trade flows, but has managed to keep delivering to customers looking for both premium and cheaper options, Chief Executive Greg Heckman said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Could those couples increase their retirement wealth simply by shifting a dollar of savings from one person to the other?

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

"High expectations tied to AI infrastructure spending have left sector rallies vulnerable to profit-taking amid shifting macroeconomic conditions," Harmantas said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

A workplace, hospital, classroom, or other everyday setting might appear in a dream, but it would often be combined with unrelated places, shifting viewpoints, or unfamiliar surroundings.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

He was shifting around, clearly trying to find a way to take the pressure off his neck.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

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