What does shift mean?
Definitions for shift
ʃɪftshift
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word shift.
Princeton's WordNet
shift, displacement(noun)
an event in which something is displaced without rotation
transformation, transmutation, shift(noun)
a qualitative change
shift, work shift, duty period(noun)
the time period during which you are at work
switch, switching, shift(noun)
the act of changing one thing or position for another
"his switch on abortion cost him the election"
shift, shifting(noun)
the act of moving from one place to another
"his constant shifting disrupted the class"
fault, faulting, geological fault, shift, fracture, break(noun)
(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"; "he studied the faulting of the earth's crust"
shift(noun)
a crew of workers who work for a specific period of time
shift key, shift(noun)
the key on the typewriter keyboard that shifts from lower-case letters to upper-case letters
chemise, shimmy, shift, slip, teddy(noun)
a woman's sleeveless undergarment
chemise, sack, shift(verb)
a loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist
switch, change over, shift(verb)
make a shift in or exchange of
"First Joe led; then we switched"
shift, dislodge, reposition(verb)
change place or direction
"Shift one's position"
transfer, shift(verb)
move around
"transfer the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket"
stir, shift, budge, agitate(verb)
move very slightly
"He shifted in his seat"
shift(verb)
move from one setting or context to another
"shift the emphasis"; "shift one's attention"
shift(verb)
change in quality
"His tone shifted"
shift(verb)
move and exchange for another
"shift the date for our class reunion"
careen, wobble, shift, tilt(verb)
move sideways or in an unsteady way
"The ship careened out of control"
lurch, pitch, shift(verb)
move abruptly
"The ship suddenly lurched to the left"
shift(verb)
use a shift key on a keyboard
"She could not shift so all her letters are written in lower case"
shift(verb)
change phonetically as part of a systematic historical change
"Grimm showed how the consonants shifted"
shift(verb)
change gears
"you have to shift when you go down a steep hill"
switch, shift, change(verb)
lay aside, abandon, or leave for another
"switch to a different brand of beer"; "She switched psychiatrists"; "The car changed lanes"
Wiktionary
shift(Noun)
a type of women's undergarment, a slip
Just last week she bought a new shift at the market.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Noun)
a change of workers, now specifically a set group of workers or period of working time
We'll work three shifts a day till the job's done.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Noun)
an act of shifting; a slight movement or change
There was a shift in the political atmosphere.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Noun)
the gear mechanism in a motor vehicle
Does it come with a stick-shift?
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Noun)
a bit shift
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Noun)
The infield shift.
Teams often use the shift against this lefty.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Noun)
The act of sexual petting.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Verb)
To change, swap.
His political stance shifted daily.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Verb)
to move from one place to another; to redistribute.
We'll have to shift these boxes to the downtown office.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Verb)
to change position.
She shifted slightly in her seat.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Verb)
To change (one's clothes); also to change (someone's) underclothes.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Verb)
To change gears (in a car).
I crested the hill and shifted into fifth.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Verb)
to manipulate a binary number by moving all of its digits left or right; compare rotate
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Verb)
to remove the first value from an array.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Verb)
to dispose of.
How can I shift a grass stain?
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Verb)
to hurry.
If you shift, you might make the 2:19.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
shift(Verb)
to engage in sexual petting.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
Shift(Noun)
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).
Just last week she bought a new shift at the market.
Etymology: sciftan, from skiftanan. Cognate with Dutch schiften, German schichten, Norwegian skifte.
Webster Dictionary
Shift(verb)
to divide; to distribute; to apportion
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
to change the place of; to move or remove from one place to another; as, to shift a burden from one shoulder to another; to shift the blame
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
to change the position of; to alter the bearings of; to turn; as, to shift the helm or sails
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
to exchange for another of the same class; to remove and to put some similar thing in its place; to change; as, to shift the clothes; to shift the scenes
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
to change the clothing of; -- used reflexively
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
to put off or out of the way by some expedient
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
the act of shifting
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
the act of putting one thing in the place of another, or of changing the place of a thing; change; substitution
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
something frequently shifted; especially, a woman's under-garment; a chemise
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
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
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
in building, the extent, or arrangement, of the overlapping of plank, brick, stones, etc., that are placed in courses so as to break joints
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
a breaking off and dislocation of a seam; a fault
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Shift(verb)
a change of the position of the hand on the finger board, in playing the violin
Etymology: [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.]
Freebase
Shift
Shift is the final studio album by Swedish grindcore band Nasum. It was released on October 26, 2004, by Burning Heart Records in Sweden and on Relapse Records in North America. After this album was released, Mieszko Talarczyk died during the 2004 Tsunami. This was followed by the disbanding of Nasum.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Shift
shift, v.t. to change in form or character: to put out of the way: to dress in fresh clothes.—v.i. to change about: to remove: to change one's clothes: to resort to expedients for some purpose: in violin-playing, to move the left hand from its original position next to the nut.—n. a change: in violin-playing, any position of the left hand except that nearest the nut: a squad or relay of men: a contrivance: an artifice: last resource: a chemise or woman's undermost garment (orig. signifying a change of body-linen).—adj. Shift′able, capable of being shifted.—ns. Shift′er, one who shifts: a trickster; Shift′iness, the character of being shifty.—adj. Shift′ing, unstable: shifty.—adv. Shift′ingly.—adj. Shift′less, destitute of shifts or expedients: unsuccessful, for want of proper means.—adv. Shift′lessly.—n. Shift′lessness.—adj. Shift′y, full of, or ready with, shifts, contrivances, or expedients.—Shift about, to vacillate: to turn quite round to the opposite point; Shift for one's self, to provide for one's self; Shift of crops, rotation of crops; Shift off, to defer: to put away.—Make shift, to find ways and means of doing something, contrive. [A.S. sciftan, to divide, Ice. skipta.]
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
shift
In ship-building, when one butt of a piece of timber or plank overlaunches the butt of another, without either being reduced in length, for the purpose of strength and stability.--To shift [thought to be from the Anglo-Saxon scyftan, to divide]. To change or alter the position of; as, to shift a sail, top-mast, or spar; to shift the helm, &c. Also, to change one's clothes.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
shift
In a military sense, to change place or station. Hence, to shift quarters.
Etymology and Origins
Shift
An old name for a chemise, denoting a shift or change of linen; also an industrial term for a change of men at certain hours, so that work can be carried on uninterruptedly by day and night.
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'shift' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3811
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'shift' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3387
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'shift' in Nouns Frequency: #1278
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'shift' in Verbs Frequency: #502
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of shift in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of shift in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
Examples of shift in a Sentence
People work ! Especially Democrats work all hours of the day. It really is eliminating a poorer population, typically of color, that can't attend the caucus because they're at work or recovering from a 12 hour shift.
We are at the beginning of the shift in the cycle from a recession-type economy to a bottoming out, and I think the economy and Macau's fortunes will turn around.
Revolution is a trivial shift in the emphasis of suffering.
There is no question in my mind that if everything continues on the current trajectory, The Democrats are going to start winning Texas, that is a radical tectonic shift in the Electoral College math. That's like The Democrats losing California.
What's new is that Nicolas Sarkozy has managed to shift the lines, to get people to think he could actually win.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for shift
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- směna, posun, posuvCzech
- Verschiebung, Verstellung, Gangschaltung, verlagern, Shift, Hochstelltaste, Schicht, Verlagerung, Schaltung, Umschalten, Umschalttaste, Shifttaste, verschieben, verstellenGerman
- βάρδιαGreek
- cambio, desplazamiento, tecla mayúsculas, desviación, deslizamiento, turno, tecla shift, moverse, mover, cambiarSpanish
- شیفت, جابهجا شدن, انداختن, جابهجا کردنPersian
- vuoro, siirtyminen, vaihteisto, siirtyä, vaihtaa, siirto, muutos, vaihto, shift, työvuoro, muuttaa, siirtääFinnish
- décalage, touche majuscule, roulementFrench
- खिसक जानाHindi
- váltás, váltó, műszak, váltHungarian
- spostarsi, muoversi, cambio, scambiare, barattare, permutareItalian
- משמרתHebrew
- シフト, シフトキーJapanese
- subcinctusLatin
- сменаMacedonian
- ploegendienst, ploegenstelselDutch
- przesunięcie, zmianaPolish
- turno, troca, câmbio, marcha, trocar, desvio, shift, mudar, moverPortuguese
- mit'aQuechua
- переключи́ть, сдвиг, измене́ние, [[кла́виша]] [[шифт]], перемеще́ние, [[переключе́ние]] [[передача, шифт, сме́на, передвиже́ние, смеще́ние, переключе́ние, поменя́ть, изменя́ть, перемести́ть, дви́гаться, перемеща́ться, меня́ть, измени́ть, перемеща́ть, перемести́ться, дви́гать, дви́нуться, дви́нуть, переключа́тьRussian
- smenaSlovak
- växla, arbetspass, pass, skift, växel, flytta, arbetsskift, skifte, byte, skifttangent, byta, skifta, ändraSwedish
- doriaSwahili
- మార్పు, బదిలీ, మారు, మార్చుTelugu
- kaydırma, üst karakter tuşu, vardiya, değiştirme, vites, shift tuşuTurkish
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"shift." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 1 Mar. 2021. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/shift>.