Meaning

A movement to do something, a beginning..

Definitions by Sense

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. (historical) 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. (US) The gear mechanism in a motor vehicle.
8. Alternative spelling of Shift (“a modifier button of computer keyboards”).

Example Sentences

There was a shift in the political atmosphere.

c. 1620-1626, Henry Wotton, letter to Nicholas Pey My going to Oxford was not merely for shift of air.

The generational shift Mr. Obama once embodied is, in fact, well under way, but it will not change Washington as quickly — or as harmoniously — as a lot of voters once hoped.

Just last week she bought a new shift at the market.

No; without a gown, in a shift that was somewhat of the coarsest, and none of the cleanest, bedewed likewise with some odoriferous effluvia, the produce of the day's labour, with a pitchfork in her hand, Molly Seagrim approached.

At length, one night, when the company by some accident broke up much sooner than ordinary, so that the candles were not half burnt out, she was not able to resist the temptation, but resolved to have them some way or other. Accordingly, as soon as the hurry was over, and the servants, as she thought, all gone to sleep, she stole out of her bed, and went down stairs, naked to her shift as she was, with a design to steal them […]

Some wear black shifts and flesh-coloured stockings; some with curly hair, dyed yellow, are dressed like little girls in short muslin frocks.

We'll work three shifts a day till the job's done.

Word Forms

• shifts
• shifting
• shifted

Synonyms for shift

Antonyms for shift

Related Words

When Should You Use Shift?

Use shift when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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