'Shift' definitions:
Definition of 'shift'
From: WordNet
noun
An event in which something is displaced without rotation [syn: shift, displacement]
noun
A qualitative change [syn: transformation, transmutation, shift]
noun
The time period during which you are at work [syn: shift, work shift, duty period]
noun
The act of changing one thing or position for another; "his switch on abortion cost him the election" [syn: switch, switching, shift]
noun
The act of moving from one place to another; "his constant shifting disrupted the class" [syn: shift, shifting]
noun
(geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they built it right over a geological fault"; "he studied the faulting of the earth's crust" [syn: fault, faulting, geological fault, shift, fracture, break]
noun
A crew of workers who work for a specific period of time
noun
The key on the typewriter keyboard that shifts from lower- case letters to upper-case letters [syn: shift key, shift]
noun
noun
A loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist [syn: chemise, sack, shift]
verb
Make a shift in or exchange of; "First Joe led; then we switched" [syn: switch, change over, shift]
verb
Change place or direction; "Shift one's position" [syn: shift, dislodge, reposition]
verb
Move around; "transfer the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket" [syn: transfer, shift]
verb
verb
Move from one setting or context to another; "shift the emphasis"; "shift one's attention"
verb
Change in quality; "His tone shifted"
verb
Move and exchange for another; "shift the date for our class reunion"
verb
Move sideways or in an unsteady way; "The ship careened out of control" [syn: careen, wobble, shift, tilt]
verb
verb
Use a shift key on a keyboard; "She could not shift so all her letters are written in lower case"
verb
Change phonetically as part of a systematic historical change; "Grimm showed how the consonants shifted"
verb
Change gears; "you have to shift when you go down a steep hill"
verb
Definition of 'Shift'
From: GCIDE
- Shift \Shift\ (sh[i^]ft), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shifted; p. pr. & vb. n. Shifting.] [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. sk[imac]fa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
- 1. To divide; to distribute; to apportion. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- To which God of his bounty would shift Crowns two of flowers well smelling. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To change the place of; to move or remove from one place to another; as, to shift a burden from one shoulder to another; to shift the blame. [1913 Webster]
- Hastily he schifte him[self]. --Piers Plowman. [1913 Webster]
- Pare saffron between the two St. Mary's days, Or set or go shift it that knowest the ways. --Tusser. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To change the position of; to alter the bearings of; to turn; as, to shift the helm or sails. [1913 Webster]
- Carrying the oar loose, [they] shift it hither and thither at pleasure. --Sir W. Raleigh. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To exchange for another of the same class; to remove and to put some similar thing in its place; to change; as, to shift the clothes; to shift the scenes. [1913 Webster]
- I would advise you to shift a shirt. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 5. To change the clothing of; -- used reflexively. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- As it were to ride day and night; and . . . not to have patience to shift me. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 6. To put off or out of the way by some expedient. "I shifted him away." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- To shift off, to delay; to defer; to put off; to lay aside.
- To shift the scene, to change the locality or the surroundings, as in a play or a story. [1913 Webster]
- Shift the scene for half an hour; Time and place are in thy power. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Shift'
From: GCIDE
- Shift \Shift\, n. [Cf. Icel. skipti. See Shift, v. t.]
- 1. The act of shifting. Specifically: (a) The act of putting one thing in the place of another, or of changing the place of a thing; change; substitution. [1913 Webster]
- My going to Oxford was not merely for shift of air. --Sir H. Wotton. [1913 Webster] (b) A turning from one thing to another; hence, an expedient tried in difficulty; often, an evasion; a trick; a fraud. "Reduced to pitiable shifts." --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
- I 'll find a thousand shifts to get away. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Little souls on little shifts rely. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Something frequently shifted; especially, a woman's under-garment; a chemise. [1913 Webster]
- 3. The change of one set of workmen for another; hence, a spell, or turn, of work; also, a set of workmen who work in turn with other sets; as, a night shift. [1913 Webster]
- 4. In building, the extent, or arrangement, of the overlapping of plank, brick, stones, etc., that are placed in courses so as to break joints. [1913 Webster]
- 5. (Mining) A breaking off and dislocation of a seam; a fault. [1913 Webster]
- 6. (Mus.) A change of the position of the hand on the finger board, in playing the violin. [1913 Webster]
- To make shift, to contrive or manage in an exigency. "I shall make shift to go without him." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- [They] made a shift to keep their own in Ireland. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Shift'
From: GCIDE
- Shift \Shift\, v. i.
- 1. To divide; to distribute. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- Some this, some that, as that him liketh shift. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To make a change or changes; to change position; to move; to veer; to substitute one thing for another; -- used in the various senses of the transitive verb. [1913 Webster]
- The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Here the Baillie shifted and fidgeted about in his seat. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To resort to expedients for accomplishing a purpose; to contrive; to manage. [1913 Webster]
- Men in distress will look to themselves, and leave their companions to shift as well as they can. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To practice indirect or evasive methods. [1913 Webster]
- All those schoolmen, though they were exceeding witty, yet better teach all their followers to shift, than to resolve by their distinctions. --Sir W. Raleigh. [1913 Webster]
- 5. (Naut.) To slip to one side of a ship, so as to destroy the equilibrum; -- said of ballast or cargo; as, the cargo shifted. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'shift'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- aberrancy,
- aberration,
- about ship,
- about the bush,
- about-face,
- accommodation,
- action,
- ad hoc measure,
- adaptation,
- adjustment,
- advance,
- alchemy,
- alter,
- alteration,
- alternate,
- ameliorate,
- amelioration,
- amotion,
- anchor watch,
- answer,
- apostasy,
- around the bush,
- art,
- artful dodge,
- artifice,
- ascend,
- assimilate to,
- assimilation,
- assumption,
- back,
- back and fill,
- back up,
- bag of tricks,
- be changed,
- be converted into,
- be renewed,
- bear away,
- bear off,
- bear to starboard,
- beat,
- beat about,
- beat around,
- become,
- becoming,
- beg the question,
- bend,
- betterment,
- bias,
- bicker,
- bit,
- blind,
- blouse,
- bluff,
- bodice,
- boggle,
- bosey,
- bottom out,
- bout,
- box off,
- branch off,
- branching off,
- break,
- bring about,
- bring round,
- bring to,
- budge,
- cadre,
- caftan,
- cant,
- cant round,
- carry away,
- carry off,
- cart away,
- cast,
- cast about,
- catch,
- cavil,
- change,
- change course,
- change into,
- change of heart,
- change over,
- change place,
- change the bearing,
- change the heading,
- change-over,
- changeableness,
- changeover,
- cheat,
- checker,
- chemise,
- chicanery,
- chop,
- chop and change,
- choplogic,
- chouse,
- circle,
- circuitousness,
- climb,
- come about,
- come around,
- come round,
- conspiracy,
- constructive change,
- continuity,
- contrivance,
- conversion,
- convert,
- corner,
- corps,
- corsage,
- countermove,
- coup,
- course of action,
- craft,
- crew,
- crook,
- curve,
- curve-ball,
- cute trick,
- day shift,
- deceit,
- deceive,
- declination,
- defection,
- deflection,
- degenerate,
- degeneration,
- degenerative change,
- delocalization,
- delocalize,
- demarche,
- depart from,
- departure,
- deracination,
- dernier ressort,
- descend,
- design,
- deteriorate,
- deterioration,
- detour,
- deviance,
- deviancy,
- deviate,
- deviation,
- device,
- deviousness,
- dickey,
- difference,
- digress,
- digression,
- dirty deal,
- dirty trick,
- disarrangement,
- disarticulation,
- discontinuity,
- discursion,
- disjointing,
- dislocation,
- dislodge,
- displace,
- displacement,
- dither,
- divagate,
- divagation,
- divaricate,
- divarication,
- diverge,
- divergence,
- diversification,
- diversify,
- diversion,
- diversity,
- do over,
- dodge,
- dogleg,
- dogwatch,
- Doppler effect,
- double,
- double a point,
- drift,
- drifting,
- duck,
- ebb,
- ebb and flow,
- edge,
- effort,
- equivocate,
- errantry,
- evade,
- evade the issue,
- excursion,
- excursus,
- exorbitation,
- expediency,
- expedient,
- fakement,
- fast deal,
- feint,
- fence,
- fetch,
- fetch about,
- ficelle,
- finesse,
- fitting,
- flip-flop,
- flop,
- flounder,
- flow,
- fluctuate,
- forcible shift,
- full time,
- gambit,
- game,
- gang,
- get over,
- gimmick,
- go,
- go about,
- go around,
- go round,
- go sideways,
- go through phases,
- googly,
- gradual change,
- graveyard shift,
- grift,
- group,
- growth,
- gybe,
- gyrate,
- hairpin,
- half time,
- haul around,
- heave round,
- hedge,
- heel,
- hem and haw,
- heterotopia,
- hocus-pocus,
- hours,
- improve,
- improvement,
- improvisation,
- incoherence,
- indirection,
- intrigue,
- jibe,
- jibe all standing,
- joker,
- juggle,
- jugglery,
- jury-rig,
- jury-rigged expedient,
- knavery,
- lapse,
- last expedient,
- last resort,
- last shift,
- lay aside,
- lie,
- linen,
- little game,
- lobster trick,
- look after,
- luxation,
- make,
- make do,
- make it,
- make over,
- makeshift,
- manage,
- maneuver,
- manhandle,
- market,
- means,
- measure,
- meliorate,
- melioration,
- miss stays,
- mitigate,
- mitigation,
- modification,
- modulate,
- modulation,
- mount,
- move,
- move over,
- movement,
- moving,
- mutate,
- muu-muu,
- mystify,
- naturalization,
- naturalize,
- night shift,
- nitpick,
- obliquity,
- obscure,
- oscillate,
- overthrow,
- overtime,
- palter,
- parry,
- part time,
- party,
- pass,
- passage,
- pendulate,
- pererration,
- pick nits,
- pis aller,
- plot,
- ploy,
- plunge,
- ply,
- prevaricate,
- progress,
- pull away,
- pull back,
- pussyfoot,
- put about,
- put aside,
- put back,
- put off,
- qualification,
- quibble,
- racket,
- radical change,
- rambling,
- re-creation,
- re-formation,
- realignment,
- rearrange,
- recoil,
- reconversion,
- reconvert,
- recourse,
- red herring,
- red shift,
- redesign,
- reduce to,
- reduction,
- reform,
- reformation,
- refuge,
- regress,
- relay,
- relocate,
- relocation,
- remaking,
- remotion,
- removal,
- remove,
- removement,
- render,
- renewal,
- reshaping,
- resolution,
- resolve into,
- resort,
- resource,
- restructuring,
- retrogress,
- reversal,
- reverse,
- revival,
- revive,
- revivification,
- revolution,
- ring the changes,
- ripping out,
- rise,
- rotate,
- round a point,
- run,
- ruse,
- schedule,
- scheme,
- scurvy trick,
- seesaw,
- sell,
- send,
- set aside,
- shake-up,
- sheer,
- sheer off,
- shift about,
- shift off,
- shifting,
- shifting course,
- shifting path,
- shilly-shally,
- shirt,
- shrink,
- shuffle,
- shunt,
- shy,
- shy away,
- shy off,
- side,
- sidestep,
- sink,
- skew,
- slant,
- sleight,
- sleight of hand,
- sleight-of-hand trick,
- slew,
- smock,
- soar,
- solution,
- spin,
- split hairs,
- split schedule,
- split shift,
- squad,
- staff,
- stagger,
- step,
- step aside,
- stint,
- stir,
- stopgap,
- stratagem,
- strategy,
- straying,
- stream,
- stroke,
- stroke of policy,
- subside,
- substitute,
- subterfuge,
- succeed,
- sudden change,
- sunrise watch,
- sway,
- sweep,
- swerve,
- swerving,
- swing,
- swing round,
- swing shift,
- swing the stern,
- swinging,
- switch,
- switch over,
- switch-over,
- tack,
- tactic,
- take a turn,
- take away,
- take care of,
- team,
- teeter,
- teeter-totter,
- temporary expedient,
- tergiversate,
- throw about,
- time,
- total change,
- totter,
- tour,
- tour of duty,
- transfer,
- transform,
- transformation,
- transit,
- transition,
- transpose,
- travel,
- trend,
- trick,
- trickery,
- trump,
- turn,
- turn aside,
- turn back,
- turn into,
- turn of work,
- turn the corner,
- turnabout,
- turning,
- turning into,
- twist,
- twist and turn,
- undergo a change,
- unhinging,
- unjointing,
- upheaval,
- uprooting,
- vacillate,
- variation,
- variety,
- vary,
- veer,
- violent change,
- volte-face,
- waist,
- wandering,
- wane,
- ward off,
- warp,
- watch,
- waver,
- wax and wane,
- wear,
- wear ship,
- whirl,
- wile,
- wily device,
- wind,
- wobble,
- work shift,
- workers,
- working hypothesis,
- working proposition,
- worsen,
- worsening,
- yaw,
- zigzag
Words containing 'Shift'
- Shifted,
- Shifting,
- Shiftingly,
- To shift off,
- Half shift,
- Shifting backstays,
- Shifting ballast,
- Shifting center,
- Shifting locomotive,
- Shifting use,
- To make shift,
- To shift the helm,
- To shift the scene,
- consonant shifting,
- day shift,
- doppler shift,
- evening shift,
- graveyard shift,
- night shift,
- population shift,
- red shift,
- shift key,
- shift register,
- sound shifting,
- split shift,
- stick shift,
- swing shift,
- work shift