/
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.