shift

Noun

• a loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist

• a woman's sleeveless undergarment

• the key on the typewriter keyboard that shifts from lower-case letters to upper-case letters

• a crew of workers who work for a specific period of time

• (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
    

• the act of moving from one place to another
  • his constant shifting disrupted the class
    

• the act of changing one thing or position for another
  • his switch on abortion cost him the election
    

• the time period during which you are at work

• a qualitative change

• an event in which something is displaced without rotation

Verb

• lay aside, abandon, or leave for another
  • switch to a different brand of beer
    
  • She switched psychiatrists
    
  • The car changed lanes
    

• change gears
  • you have to shift when you go down a steep hill
    

• change phonetically as part of a systematic historical change
  • Grimm showed how the consonants shifted
    

• use a shift key on a keyboard
  • She could not shift so all her letters are written in lower case
    

• move abruptly
  • The ship suddenly lurched to the left
    

• move sideways or in an unsteady way
  • The ship careened out of control
    

• move and exchange for another
  • shift the date for our class reunion
    

• change in quality
  • His tone shifted
    

• move from one setting or context to another
  • shift the emphasis
    
  • shift one's attention
    

• move very slightly
  • He shifted in his seat
    

• move around
  • transfer the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket
    

• change place or direction
  • Shift one's position
    

• make a shift in or exchange of; then we switched"
  • First Joe led
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  chemise , sack , shimmy , slip , teddy , shift key , fault , faulting , geological fault , fracture , break , shifting , switch , switching , work shift , duty period , transformation , transmutation , displacement , change , lurch , pitch , careen , wobble , tilt , stir , budge , agitate , transfer , dislodge , r