shift

Meaning

Noun

1. A movement to do something, a beginning.
2. An act of shifting; a slight movement or change.
3. (obsolete) A share, a portion assigned on division.
4. A type of women's undergarment of dress length worn under dresses or skirts, a slip or chemise.
5. A simple straight-hanging, loose-fitting dress.
6. A change of workers, now specifically a set group of workers or period of working time.
7. The gear mechanism in a motor vehicle.
8. Alternative spelling of Shift (“a modifier button of computer keyboards”).
9. A control code or character used to change between different character sets.
10. A control code or character used to change between different character sets.
11. A bit shift.
12. An infield shift.
13. The act of kissing passionately.
14. A contrivance, a device to try when other methods fail.
15. A trick, an artifice.
16. The extent, or arrangement, of the overlapping of plank, brick, stones, etc., that are placed in courses so as to break joints.
17. A breaking off and dislocation of a seam; a fault.
18. A mutation in which the DNA or RNA from two different sources (such as viruses or bacteria) combine.
19. In violin-playing, any position of the left hand except that nearest the nut.
20. A period of time in which one's consciousness resides in another reality, usually achieved through meditation or other means.
21. (slang) be done; ruined

Verb

1. To move from one place to another; to redistribute.
2. To change in form or character; switch.
3. To change position; to move.
4. To change residence; to leave and live elsewhere.
5. (obsolete) To change (clothes, especially underwear).
6. (obsolete) To change (someone's) clothes; sometimes specifically, to change underwear.
7. To change gears (in a car).
8. To move the keys of a typewriter over in order to type capital letters and special characters.
9. To switch to a character entry mode for capital letters and special characters.
10. To manipulate a binary number by moving all of its digits left or right; compare rotate.
11. To remove the first value from an array.
12. To dispose of.
13. To hurry; to move quickly.
14. (slang) To engage in sexual petting.
15. To resort to expedients for accomplishing a purpose; to contrive; to manage.
16. To practice indirect or evasive methods.
17. In violin-playing, to move the left hand from its original position next to the nut.
18. To change the reality one's consciousness resides in through meditation or other means.
19. (slang) To steal or kidnap.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃɪft/

Etymology

From Middle English schiften, from Old English sċiftan (“to divide, separate into shares; appoint, ordain; arrange, organise”), from Proto-Germanic *skiftijaną, *skiptijaną, from earlier *skipatjaną (“to organise, put in order”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeyb- (“to separate, divide, part”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“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”). See ship.