shifts

- 5 dictionary results

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.

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, esp. phonetically.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to move from one place, position, direction, etc., to another.

6.	to manage to get along or succeed by oneself.

7.	to get along by indirect methods; use any expediency, trick, or evasion to get along or succeed: He shifted through life.

8.	to change gears in driving an automobile.

9.	Linguistics. to undergo a systematic, esp. phonetic, change.

10.	to press a shift key, as on a typewriter keyboard.

11.	Archaic. to change one's clothes.

–noun

12.	a change or transfer from one place, position, direction, person, etc., to another: a shift in the wind.

13.	a person's scheduled period of work, esp. 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.

14.	a group of workers scheduled to work during such a period: The night shift reported.

15.	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.

16.	Automotive. a gearshift.

17.

Clothing.

a.	a straight, loose-fitting dress worn with or without a belt.

b.	a woman's chemise or slip.

18.	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.

19.	Mining. a dislocation of a seam or stratum; fault.

20.	Music. a change in the position of the left hand on the fingerboard in playing a stringed instrument.

21.

Linguistics.

a.	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.

b.	a change in the meaning or use of a word. Compare functional shift.

22.	an expedient; ingenious device.

23.	an evasion, artifice, or trick.

24.	change or substitution.

25.	Bridge. shift bid.

26.

Agriculture. (in crop rotation)

a.	any of successive crops.

b.	the tract of land used.

27.	an act or instance of using the shift key, as on a typewriter keyboard.

—Idiom

28.	shift gears. gear (def. 19).

Origin:
bef. 1000; (v.) ME shiften to arrange, OE sciftan; c. G schichten to arrange in order, ON skipta to divide; (n.) ME: contrivance, start, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:

shift⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

shift⋅ing⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. substitute. 22. contrivance, resource, resort. 23. wile, ruse, subterfuge, stratagem.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To shifts

shift (shĭft)

v. shift·ed, shift·ing, shifts

v. tr.

To exchange (one thing) for another of the same class: shifted assignments among the students.
To move or transfer from one place or position to another.
To alter (position or place).
To change (gears), as in an automobile.
Linguistics To alter phonetically as part of a systematic historical change.

v. intr.

To change position, direction, place, or form.
1. To provide for one's own needs; get along: "See me safe up: for my coming down, I can shift for myself" (Thomas More).
2. To get along by tricky or evasive means.
To change gears, as when driving an automobile.
Linguistics To be altered as part of a systematic historical change. Used of speech sounds.
To use a shift key.

A change from one person or configuration to another; a substitution.
1. A group of workers that relieve another on a regular schedule.
2. The working period of such a group: worked the night shift.
3. A means to an end; an expedient.
4. A stratagem; a trick.
5. Music A change of the hand position in playing the violin or a similar instrument.
6. Football A rearrangement of players from one formation to another just prior to the snap of the ball.
7. Baseball A rearrangement of one or more fielders for improved defense against a particular hitter.
8. Geology See fault.
9. Computer Science Movement of characters in a register to the left or right, as of the bits in a byte.
10. A systematic change of the phonetic or phonemic structure of a language.
11. Functional shift.
12. A loosely fitting dress that hangs straight from the shoulder; a chemise.
13. A woman's undergarment; a slip or chemise.
1. A means to an end; an expedient.
2. A stratagem; a trick.
3. Music A change of the hand position in playing the violin or a similar instrument.
4. Football A rearrangement of players from one formation to another just prior to the snap of the ball.
5. Baseball A rearrangement of one or more fielders for improved defense against a particular hitter.
6. Geology See fault.
7. Computer Science Movement of characters in a register to the left or right, as of the bits in a byte.
8. A systematic change of the phonetic or phonemic structure of a language.
9. Functional shift.
10. A loosely fitting dress that hangs straight from the shoulder; a chemise.
11. A woman's undergarment; a slip or chemise.
A change in direction: a shift in the wind.
A change in attitude, judgment, or emphasis.
A change in position, as:
1. Music A change of the hand position in playing the violin or a similar instrument.
2. Football A rearrangement of players from one formation to another just prior to the snap of the ball.
3. Baseball A rearrangement of one or more fielders for improved defense against a particular hitter.
4. Geology See fault.
5. Computer Science Movement of characters in a register to the left or right, as of the bits in a byte.
6. A systematic change of the phonetic or phonemic structure of a language.
7. Functional shift.
8. A loosely fitting dress that hangs straight from the shoulder; a chemise.
9. A woman's undergarment; a slip or chemise.
An act or instance of using a shift key.
Physics A change in wavelength, causing a movement of a spectral band or line.
Linguistics
1. A systematic change of the phonetic or phonemic structure of a language.
2. Functional shift.
3. A loosely fitting dress that hangs straight from the shoulder; a chemise.
4. A woman's undergarment; a slip or chemise.
1. A loosely fitting dress that hangs straight from the shoulder; a chemise.
2. A woman's undergarment; a slip or chemise.

[Middle English shiften, from Old English sciftan, to arrange, divide.]
shift'er n.

Word Origin & History

shift (n.2)

"body garment, underclothing," 1598, originally used of both men's and women's. In 17c., it began to be used as a euphemism for smock, and was itself displaced, for similar reasons of delicacy, in 19c. by chemise.

Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: shift
Pronunciation: 'shift
Function: noun
: a change in place, position, or frequency: as a : a change in frequency resultingin a change in position of a spectral line or band —compare DOPPLER EFFECT b : a removal ortransfer from one thing or place to another —see CHLORIDE SHIFT

Medical Dictionary

shift (shĭft)
v. shift·ed, shift·ing, shifts

To move or transfer from one place or position to another.
To alter position or place.
To exchange one thing for another of the same type or class.

A change from one person or configuration to another; a substitution.
A change in position.

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