SHIFT | English Meaning, Definition, and Pronunciation

Old English sciftan ‘arrange, divide, apportion’, of Germanic origin; related to German schichten ‘to layer, stratify’. A common Middle English sense ‘change, replace’ gave rise to shift (sense 3 of the noun) (via the notion of changing one's clothes) and shift (sense 2 of the noun) (via the concept of relays of workers)

move or cause to move from one place to another, especially over a small distance

move from one place to another

• a team from the power company came to shift the cables away from the house
• the roof cracked and shifted

change gear in a vehicle

change gear in vehicle

• she shifted down to fourth

be evasive or indirect

be evasive or indirect

• they know not how to shift and rob as the old ones do

kiss and engage in sexually stimulating activity with (someone)

kiss

• she had kissed or shifted him three months earlier at a house party

a slight change in position, direction, or tendency

slight change in position or tendency

• a shift in public opinion

each of two or more recurring periods in which different groups of workers do the same jobs in relay

each of two or more recurring periods in which different groups of workers do same jobs in relay

• Anne was on the night shift

a woman's straight unwaisted dress.

woman's straight unwaisted dress

an ingenious or devious device or stratagem

ingenious or devious device or stratagem

• the thousand shifts and devices of which Hannibal was a master

a period of kissing and engaging in sexually stimulating activity with someone

period of kissing and sexual activity

• from getting the shift to getting hitched, there is an app for everything these days
• the stage of a night out where you’re looking for a shift