/
ʃɪft/
v.
- move or change or cause to move or change from one position to another.
▸move one's body slightly due to discomfort.
- change the emphasis, direction, or focus of:
she's shifting the blame on to me.
- Brit. informal move quickly.
▸
(shift oneself)
move or rouse oneself.
▸remove (a stain).
▸sell (merchandise) quickly or in large quantities.
▸eat or drink hastily or in large amounts.
- chiefly N. Amer. change gear.
- archaic be evasive.
n.
- a slight change in position, direction, or tendency.
- a key used to switch between two sets of characters or functions on a keyboard.
- N. Amer. a gear lever or gear-changing mechanism.
- Building the positioning of successive rows of bricks so that their ends do not coincide.
- each of two or more periods in which different groups of workers do the same jobs in relay.
▸a group of people who work in this way.
- a straight dress that hangs from the shoulders and is not fitted at the waist.
▸historical a long, loose undergarment.
- archaic an ingenious or devious device or stratagem.
Phrase
- make shift
dated manage to do something. - shift for oneself
manage alone as best one can. - shift one's ground
change one's position in an argument.
Derivative
- shiftable adj.
- shifter n.
Etymology
OE sciftan ‘arrange, divide, apportion’ (also ME, ‘change, replace’), of Gmc origin.