1. Change place or direction
   "Shift one's position";
   - dislodge, reposition
    
2. Make a shift in or exchange of
   "First Joe led; then we shifted";
   - switch, change over
    
3. Move around
   "shift the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket";
   - transfer
    
4. Move or shift slightly from a position
   "He shifted in his seat";
   - stir, budge, scooch [informal]
    
5. Move sideways or in an unsteady way
   "The ship shifted out of control";
   - careen, wobble, tilt
    
6. Move abruptly
   "The ship suddenly shifted to the left";
   - lurch, pitch
    
7. Move from one setting or context to another
   "shift the emphasis"; "shift one's attention"
    
8. Change in quality
   "His tone shifted"
    
9. Move and exchange for another
   "shift the date for our class reunion"
    
10. [N. Amer] Change gears
    "you have to shift when you go down a steep hill"
     
11. Lay aside, abandon, or leave for another
    "shift to a different brand of beer";
    - switch, change
     
12. (phonetics) change phonetically as part of a systematic historical change
    "Grimm showed how the consonants shifted"
     
13. Use a shift key on a keyboard
    "She could not shift so all her letters are written in lower case"

1. The time period during which you are at work
   "He preferred the morning work shift because it allowed him to spend evenings with his family";
   - work shift, duty period
    
2. A crew of workers who work for a specific period of time
   "The night shift took over at midnight"
    
3. The act of moving from one place to another
   "The shift of operations to the new building took weeks";
   - shifting
    
4. The act of changing one thing or position for another
   "his shift on abortion cost him the election";
   - switch, switching
    
5. A qualitative change
   "The company underwent a dramatic shift in its business model";
   - transformation, transmutation
    
6. The key on the typewriter keyboard that shifts from lower-case letters to upper-case letters
   "He held down the shift key to type in all capital letters";
   - shift key
    
7. A woman's sleeveless undergarment
   "She wore a cotton shift for comfort";
   - chemise, shimmy [archaic], slip, teddy
    
8. A loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist
   "The historical reenactor donned a simple shift typical of the era";
   - chemise, sack
    
9. (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 shift";
   - fault, faulting, geological fault, fracture, break

Derived forms: shifts, shifted, shifting

Type of: abandon, alter, alteration, change, cleft, crack, crevice, crew, displace, dress, exchange, fissure, frock, gang, hours, interchange, key, modification, modify, motion, move, movement, replace, scissure, sub [informal], substitute, type, typewrite, undergarment, unmentionable, work party

Part of: hands, manpower, men, typewriter keyboard, work force, workday, workforce, working day

Encyclopedia: Shift, The