/
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.