shift

/ʃˈɪft/ · 1 syllable

Meaning

verb

make a shift in or exchange of
“First Joe led; then we switched”
change place or direction
“Shift one's position”
move around
“transfer the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket”
move very slightly
“He shifted in his seat”
move from one setting or context to another
“shift the emphasis”
change in quality
“His tone shifted”
move and exchange for another
“shift the date for our class reunion”
move sideways or in an unsteady way
“The ship careened out of control”
move abruptly
“The ship suddenly lurched to the left”
use a shift key on a keyboard
“She could not shift so all her letters are written in lower case”
change phonetically as part of a systematic historical change
“Grimm showed how the consonants shifted”
change gears
“you have to shift when you go down a steep hill”

noun

an event in which something is displaced without rotation
a qualitative change
the time period during which you are at work
the act of changing one thing or position for another
“his switch on abortion cost him the election”
the act of moving from one place to another
“his constant shifting disrupted the class”
(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”
a crew of workers who work for a specific period of time
the key on the typewriter keyboard that shifts from lower-case letters to upper-case letters
a woman's sleeveless undergarment
a loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist

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