Shifter

Quick meaning: Shifter is a noun meaning One who, or that which, shifts or changes.

Meaning

One who, or that which, shifts or changes.

More Meanings

1. (linguistics) A word whose meaning changes depending on the situation, as by deixis.
2. (nautical) An assistant to the ship's cook in washing, soaking, and shifting the salt provisions.
3. (engineering, textiles) A wire for changing a loop from one needle to another, as in narrowing, etc.
4. (especially Australia) A spanner with an adjustable jaw size.
5. (engineering) 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. (cycling) 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.
7. (dated) Someone who plays tricks; a trickster.

Example Sentences

'Twas ſuch a ſhifter, that if truth were known, / Death was half glad when he had got him down;

The cigarette is analogous to what linguists call a shifter, like the word I ; this device for expressing the irreducible particularity of my innermost self is universally available to every speaker and is thus the least particular thing in the world. The smoker manipulates the cigarette, like the word I, to tell stories to him/herself about him/herself — or to an other.

Word Forms

• shifters

Synonyms for shifter

Depending on context, synonyms include changeling, shape-shifter, shapeshifter.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include changer, change, shape, exchange, contrast, speed.

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