shifter

1. One who, or that which, shifts or changes.
2. A word whose meaning changes depending on the situation, as by deixis.
3. (dated) Someone who plays tricks; a trickster.
4. An assistant to the ship's cook in washing, soaking, and shifting the salt provisions.
5. A control device (usually a lever or button) for shifting gears in a gearbox, or an arrangement for shifting a belt sidewise from one pulley to another.
6. A wire for changing a loop from one needle to another, as in narrowing, etc.
7. A component used by the rider to control the gearing mechanisms and select the desired gear ratio, usually connected to the derailleur by a mechanical actuation cable.
8. A spanner with an adjustable jaw size.
9. (historical) A person employed to repair the horseways and other passages, and keep them unobstructed.
10. (Pennsylvania, US) A switcher or shunter: a railroad locomotive used for shunting.
11. A shape-shifter; a person or other being capable of changing their physical form, especially a lycanthrope.
12. A shiftworker.
13. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of reality shifter.

Etymology

From shift + -er.

Synonyms

sceneshifter

switching mechanism

gear lever

gearshift

gearstick

shiftman

shift register

shift unit

stagehand

shifting spanner

mobile device

phase changer

phase converter

phase switcher

shift device

adjustable spanner

shifting unit

adjustable wrench

designator

running gear

shift lever

Translations

variatore

canvi de marxes

tramoista

Pronomen

Schalthebel

schlauer Fuchs

Rollgabelschlüssel

αλλάσσων

levier

clé à molette

clef à molette

chiave inglese

🔧

voornaamwoord

toneelknecht

manetka