shift

CEFRB1

/ˈʃɪft/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To move or change from one position or condition to another.

  2. 02

    noun

    A period of work for a group of workers.

Examples

  • Shift the sofa so that it faces the fireplace.

  • When I speak to a Westerner, I have to shift mental gears, so to speak.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. A share, a portion assigned on division.

  2. An act of shifting; a slight movement or change.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A movement to do something, a beginning.

More examples

In context

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

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

  • There was a shift in the political atmosphere.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Nurse Jane worked the night blank at the hospital for three years.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

The noun is from Middle English schyft, shyffte. Cognate with German Schicht (“layer, shift”). The verb is 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”),...