View synonyms for shift

shift

[ shift ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

to put (something) aside and replace it by another or others; change or exchange:
to shift friends;
to shift ideas.
Synonyms: substitute
to transfer from one place, position, person, etc., to another:
to shift the blame onto someone else.
Automotive. to change (gears) from one ratio or arrangement to another.
Linguistics. to change in a systematic way, especially phonetically.

verb (used without object)

to move from one place, position, direction, etc., to another.
to manage to get along or succeed by oneself.
to get along by indirect methods; use any expediency, trick, or evasion to get along or succeed:
He shifted through life.
to change gears in driving an automobile.
Linguistics. to undergo a systematic, especially phonetic, change.
to press a shift key, as on a typewriter keyboard.
Archaic. to change one's clothes.

noun

a change or transfer from one place, position, direction, person, etc., to another:
a shift in the wind.
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.
a group of workers scheduled to work during such a period:
The night shift reported.
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.
Automotive. a gearshift.
Clothing.
1. a straight, loose-fitting dress worn with or without a belt.
2. a woman's chemise or slip.
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.
Mining. a dislocation of a seam or stratum; fault.
Music. a change in the position of the left hand on the fingerboard in playing a stringed instrument.
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. Compare functional shift.
an expedient; ingenious device.
Synonyms: resort, resource, contrivance
an evasion, artifice, or trick.
Synonyms: stratagem, subterfuge, ruse, wile
change or substitution.
Bridge. shift bid.
Agriculture. (in crop rotation)
1. any of successive crops.
2. the tract of land used.
an act or instance of using the shift key, as on a typewriter keyboard.

shift

/ ʃɪft /

verb

to move or cause to move from one place or position to another
tr to change for another or others
to change (gear) in a motor vehicle
intr (of a sound or set of sounds) to alter in a systematic way
intr to provide for one's needs (esp in the phrase shift for oneself )
intr to proceed by indirect or evasive methods
to remove or be removed, esp with difficulty
no detergent can shift these stains
slang.
intr to move quickly
tr computing to move (bits held in a store location) to the left or right

noun

the act or an instance of shifting
a group of workers who work for a specific period
the period of time worked by such a group
an expedient, contrivance, or artifice
the displacement of rocks, esp layers or seams in mining, at a geological fault
an underskirt or dress with little shaping

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Derived Forms

ˈshifter, noun

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Other Words From

shifting·ly adverb
shifting·ness noun
inter·shifting adjective
re·shift verb
trans·shift verb
un·shifting adjective

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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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of shift¹

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

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

shift gears. gear ( def 19 ).

Related Words

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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