Definition of Shift

1. Noun. An event in which something is displaced without rotation.

Exact synonyms: Displacement
Specialized synonyms: Amplitude, Luxation
Generic synonyms: Translation

2. Verb. Make a shift in or exchange of. "First Joe led; then we switched"
Exact synonyms: Change Over, Switch
Generic synonyms: Alter, Change, Modify
Specialized synonyms: Back, Veer
Derivative terms: Switch, Switching

3. Noun. A qualitative change.

4. Verb. Change place or direction. "Shift one's position"
Exact synonyms: Dislodge, Reposition
Generic synonyms: Displace, Move
Specialized synonyms: Beat Down
Derivative terms: Shifting

5. Noun. The time period during which you are at work.
Exact synonyms: Duty Period, Work Shift
Generic synonyms: Hours
Group relationships: Workday, Working Day
Specialized synonyms: Go, Spell, Tour, Turn, Trick, Watch, Day Shift, Evening Shift, Swing Shift, Graveyard Shift, Night Shift, Split Shift

6. Verb. Move around. "Transfer the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket"
Exact synonyms: Transfer
Generic synonyms: Displace, Move
Specialized synonyms: Transpose, Shunt, Carry, Shuffle, Transship, Bunker, Carry Forward, Carry Over, Remove, Transfer, Translocate
Derivative terms: Transferrer

7. Noun. The act of changing one thing or position for another. "His switch on abortion cost him the election"
Exact synonyms: Switch, Switching
Generic synonyms: Change
Specialized synonyms: Switcheroo
Derivative terms: Switch, Switch, Switch, Switch, Switch, Switch

8. Verb. Move very slightly. "The streets shift with crowds"; "He shifted in his seat"
Exact synonyms: Agitate, Budge, Stir
Generic synonyms: Move
Derivative terms: Shifting

9. Noun. The act of moving from one place to another. "His constant shifting disrupted the class"
Exact synonyms: Shifting
Generic synonyms: Motion, Move, Movement
Derivative terms: Shifty

10. Verb. Move from one setting or context to another. "Shift one's attention"
Generic synonyms: Alter, Change, Modify
Specialized synonyms: Transfer, Transplant, Transpose

11. Noun. (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other. "He studied the faulting of the earth's crust"
Exact synonyms: Break, Fault, Faulting, Fracture, Geological Fault
Category relationships: Geology
Terms within: Fault Line
Generic synonyms: Cleft, Crack, Crevice, Fissure, Scissure
Specialized synonyms: Denali Fault, San Andreas Fault
Specialized synonyms: Inclined Fault, Strike-slip Fault
Derivative terms: Break, Fracture

12. Verb. Change in quality. "His tone shifted"
Generic synonyms: Change

13. Noun. A crew of workers who work for a specific period of time.
Group relationships: Hands, Manpower, Men, Work Force, Workforce
Specialized synonyms: Day Shift, Day Watch, Evening Shift, Graveyard Shift, Night Shift, Relay
Generic synonyms: Crew, Gang, Work Party

14. Verb. Move and exchange for another. "Shift the date for our class reunion"
Generic synonyms: Exchange, Interchange, Replace, Substitute

15. Noun. The key on the typewriter keyboard that shifts from lower-case letters to upper-case letters.
Exact synonyms: Shift Key
Generic synonyms: Key
Group relationships: Typewriter Keyboard

16. Verb. Move sideways or in an unsteady way. "The ship careened out of control"
Exact synonyms: Careen, Tilt, Wobble
Generic synonyms: Move
Derivative terms: Careen, Tilt, Wobble, Wobbler

17. Noun. A woman's sleeveless undergarment.
Exact synonyms: Chemise, Shimmy, Slip, Teddy
Terms within: Shoulder Strap, Strap
Generic synonyms: Undergarment, Unmentionable

18. Verb. Move abruptly. "The ship suddenly lurched to the left"
Exact synonyms: Lurch, Pitch
Generic synonyms: Move
Derivative terms: Lurch, Lurch, Pitch, Pitching

19. Noun. A loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist.
Exact synonyms: Chemise, Sack
Generic synonyms: Dress, Frock

20. Verb. Use a shift key on a keyboard. "She could not shift so all her letters are written in lower case"
Generic synonyms: Type, Typewrite

21. Verb. Change phonetically as part of a systematic historical change. "Grimm showed how the consonants shifted"
Category relationships: Phonetics
Generic synonyms: Change

22. Verb. Change gears. "You have to shift when you go down a steep hill"
Generic synonyms: Change, Switch
Derivative terms: Shifter

23. Verb. Lay aside, abandon, or leave for another. "The car changed lanes"
Exact synonyms: Change, Switch
Related verbs: Change, Commute, Convert, Exchange, Change
Specialized synonyms: Transition, Break, Channel-surf, Surf, Jump, Leap, Diphthongise, Diphthongize, Cut, Break
Derivative terms: Switch

Definition of Shift

1. v. t. To divide; to distribute; to apportion.

2. v. i. To divide; to distribute.

3. n. The act of shifting.

Definition of Shift

1. Noun. (computing) A modifier key whose main function is shifting between two or more functions of any of certain other keys (usually by pressing Shift and the other button simultaneously). ¹

2. Verb. (transitive) To change, swap. ¹

3. Verb. (transitive) to move from one place to another; to redistribute. ¹

4. Verb. (intransitive) to change position. ¹

5. Verb. (obsolete transitive) To change (one's clothes); also to change (someone's) underclothes. ¹

6. Verb. (intransitive) To change gears (in a car). ¹

7. Verb. (transitive computing) to manipulate a binary number by moving all of its digits left or right; compare rotate ¹

8. Verb. (transitive computing) to remove the first value from an array. ¹

9. Verb. (transitive) to dispose of. ¹

10. Verb. (intransitive) to hurry. ¹

11. Verb. (Ireland vulgar slang) to engage in sexual petting. ¹

12. Noun. (historical) a type of women's undergarment, a slip ¹

13. Noun. a change of workers, now specifically a set group of workers or period of working time ¹

14. Noun. an act of shifting; a slight movement or change ¹

15. Noun. (American English) the gear mechanism in a motor vehicle ¹

16. Noun. (alternative spelling of Shift the modifier button of computer keyboards) ¹

17. Noun. (computing) a bit shift ¹

18. Noun. (baseball) The infield shift. ¹

19. Noun. (context: Ireland crude slang often with the definite article usually uncountable) The act of sexual petting. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Shift

1. to move from one position to another [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Shift

1. 1. The act of shifting. Specifically: The act of putting one thing in the place of another, or of changing the place of a thing; change; substitution. "My going to Oxford was not merely for shift of air." (Sir H. Wotton) A turning from one thing to another; hence, an expedient tried in difficalty; often, an evasion; a trick; a fraud. "Reduced to pitiable shifts." "I 'll find a thousand shifts to get away." (Shak) "Little souls on little shifts rely." (Dryden) 2. Something frequently shifted; especially, a woman's under-garment; a chemise. 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. 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. 5. A breaking off and dislocation of a seam; a fault. 6. A change of the position of the hand on the finger board, in playing the violin. To make shift, to contrive or manage in an exigency. "I shall make shift to go without him." "[They] made a shift to keep their own in Ireland." (Milton) Origin: Cf. Icel skipti. See Shift. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Shift

shieldtail
shieldtails
shieldwise
shieled
shieling
shielings
shiels
shier
shiers
shies
shies away
shies away from
shiest
shiesty
shife
shift gears
shift key
shift keys
shift lever
shift register
shift to the left
shift to the right
shift work
shifta
shiftable
shiftas
shifted
shifted maxwellian

Literary usage of Shift

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Who's Minding the Kids: Child Care Arrangements Fall 1991 by Lynne W. Casper (1994)
"Children Under 5 Cared for in Their Own Home, by Parents' shift-Work Status: ... Both work non-days Care by father Split-shift schedules employed is much ..."

2. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians by George Grove (1908)
"The first tentative advances towards the adoption of the • shift ' took the form ... Beyond a doubt, many professional violinists could shift in the first ..."

3. OECD Environmental Performance Reviews by OECD., Lorents G. (FRW) Lorentsen, OECD Staff (2004)
"Box 5.2 Green tax shift The 2000 spring finance hill introduced an environmental tax reform called the green tax shift: a reallocation of taxes from labour ..."

4. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of King's Bench: In by Sandford Nevile, Great Britain Court of King's Bench, William Montagu Manning (1839)
"The pit in which the pauper was employed some- Inhabitants of times worked single shift and sometimes double shift. The pauper worked from the said 5th ..."

5. Publications by English Dialect Society (1894)
"shift, the time of working for one day where sets of men (shifts) relieve each other. In a colliery the first period of working is called the fore-shift and ..."

6. Mineral Deposits by Waldemar Lindgren (1913)
"The word "shift" is used to denote the relative displacements of the rock ... The shift, or net shift, is the maximum relative displacement of points on ..."

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