'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
A woman's sleeveless undergarment [syn: chemise, shimmy, shift, slip, teddy]
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
Move very slightly; "He shifted in his seat" [syn: stir, shift, budge, agitate]
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
Move abruptly; "The ship suddenly lurched to the left" [syn: lurch, pitch, shift]
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
Lay aside, abandon, or leave for another; "switch to a different brand of beer"; "She switched psychiatrists"; "The car changed lanes" [syn: switch, shift, change]

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

Words containing 'Shift'