[ ʃɪft ]
■ verb
1》 move or change or cause to move or change from one position to another.
↘move one's body slightly due to discomfort.
2》 change the emphasis, direction, or focus of: she's ~ing the blame on to me.
3》 Brit. informal move quickly.
↘( ~ oneself ) move or rouse oneself.
↘remove (a stain).
↘sell (merchandise) quickly or in large quantities.
↘eat or drink hastily or in large amounts.
4》 chiefly N. Amer. change gear.
5》 archaic be evasive.
■ noun
1》 a slight change in position, direction, or tendency.
2》 a key used to switch between two sets of characters or functions on a keyboard.
3》 N. Amer. a gear lever or gear-changing mechanism.
4》 Building the positioning of successive rows of bricks so that their ends do not coincide.
5》 each of two or more periods in which different groups of workers do the same jobs in relay.
↘a group of people who work in this way.
6》 a straight dress that hangs from the shoulders and is not fitted at the waist.
↘ historical a long, loose undergarment.
7》 archaic an ingenious or devious device or stratagem.
Phrases
make ~ dated manage or contrive to do something.
~ for oneself manage alone as best one can.
~ one's ground change one's position in an argument.
Derivatives
~able adjective
~er noun
Origin
OE sciftan 'arrange, divide, apportion' (also ME, 'change, replace'), of Gmc origin.