Shift Definition

shĭft

shifted, shifting, shifts

verb

shifted, shifting, shifts

To move or transfer from one person, place, or position to another.

To shift the blame.

Webster's New World

To replace by another or others; change or exchange.

Webster's New World

To change from one gear arrangement to another.

Webster's New World

To alter (position or place).

American Heritage

To undergo phonetic change.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

noun

shifts

The act of shifting from one person, place, position, etc. to another; change; transfer; substitution.

Webster's New World

A means or plan of conduct, esp. one followed in an emergency or difficulty; expedient; stratagem.

Webster's New World

A group of people working in relay with another or other groups.

The night shift.

Webster's New World

A means to an end; an expedient.

American Heritage

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

idiom

make shift

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Shift

Singular:

shift

Plural:

From Middle English schiften, from Old English sciftan (“to divide, separate into shares; appoint, ordain; arrange, organise"), from Proto-Germanic *skiftijanÄ…, *skiptijanÄ…, for earlier *skipatjanÄ… (“to organise, put in order"), from Proto-Indo-European *skeyb- (“to separate, divide, part"), from Proto-Indo-European *skÄ“y- (“to cut, divide, separate, part"). Cognate with Scots schift, skift (“to shift"), West Frisian skifte, skiftsje (“to sort"), Dutch schiften (“to sort, screen, winnow, part"), German schichten (“to stack, layer"), Swedish skifta (“to shift, change, exchange, vary"), Norwegian skifte (“to shift"), Icelandic skipta (“to switch").

From Wiktionary
Middle English shiften from Old English sciftan to arrange, divide

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From shift.

From Wiktionary