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Webster 1913 Edition

Shift

Shift

(shĭft)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Shifted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Shifting
.]
[OE.
shiften
,
schiften
, to divide, change, remove. AS.
sciftan
to divide; akin to LG. & D.
schiften
to divide, distinguish, part Icel.
skipta
to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan
skifte
, Sw.
skifta
, and probably to Icel.
skīfa
to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E.
shive
,
sheave
, n.,
shiver
, n.]
1.
To divide; to distribute; to apportion.
[Obs.]
To which God of his bounty would
shift

Crowns two of flowers well smelling.
Chaucer.
2.
To change the place of; to move or remove from one place to another;
as, to
shift
a burden from one shoulder to another; to
shift
the blame.
Hastily he
schifte
him[self].
Piers Plowman.
Pare saffron between the two St. Mary’s days,
Or set or go
shift
it that knowest the ways.
Tusser.
3.
To change the position of; to alter the bearings of; to turn;
as, to
shift
the helm or sails
.
Carrying the oar loose, [they]
shift
it hither and thither at pleasure.
Sir W. Raleigh.
4.
To exchange for another of the same class; to remove and to put some similar thing in its place; to change;
as, to
shift
the clothes; to
shift
the scenes.
I would advise you to
shift
a shirt.
Shakespeare
5.
To change the clothing of; – used reflexively.
[Obs.]
As it were to ride day and night; and . . . not to have patience to
shift
me.
Shakespeare
6.
To put off or out of the way by some expedient.
“I shifted him away.”
Shak.
To shift off
,
to delay; to defer; to put off; to lay aside.
–
To shift the scene
,
to change the locality or the surroundings, as in a play or a story.
Shift the scene
for half an hour;
Time and place are in thy power.
Swift.

Shift

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To divide; to distribute.
[Obs.]
Some this, some that, as that him liketh
shift
.
Chaucer.
2.
To make a change or changes; to change position; to move; to veer; to substitute one thing for another; – used in the various senses of the transitive verb.
The sixth age
shifts

Into the lean and slippered pantaloon.
Shakespeare
Here the Baillie
shifted
and fidgeted about in his seat.
Sir W. Scott.
3.
To resort to expedients for accomplishing a purpose; to contrive; to manage.
Men in distress will look to themselves, and leave their companions to
shift
as well as they can.
L'Estrange.
4.
To practice indirect or evasive methods.
All those schoolmen, though they were exceeding witty, yet better teach all their followers to
shift
, than to resolve by their distinctions.
Sir W. Raleigh.
5.
(Naut.)
To slip to one side of a ship, so as to destroy the equilibrum; – said of ballast or cargo;
as, the cargo
shifted
.

Shift

,
Noun.
[Cf. Icel.
skipti
. See
Shift
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
The act of shifting.
Specifically:
(a)
The act of putting one thing in the place of another, or of changing the place of a thing; change; substitution.
My going to Oxford was not merely for
shift
of air.
Sir H. Wotton.
(b)
A turning from one thing to another; hence, an expedient tried in difficulty; often, an evasion; a trick; a fraud. “Reduced to pitiable shifts.”
Macaulay.
I 'll find a thousand
shifts
to get away.
Shakespeare
Little souls on little
shifts
rely.
Dryden.
2.
Something frequently shifted; especially, a woman's under-garment; a chemise.
3.
The change of one set of workmen for another; hence, a spell, or turn, of work; also, a set of workmen who work in turn with other sets;
as, a night
shift
.
4.
In building, the extent, or arrangement, of the overlapping of plank, brick, stones, etc., that are placed in courses so as to break joints.
5.
(Mining)
A breaking off and dislocation of a seam; a fault.
6.
(Mus.)
A change of the position of the hand on the finger board, in playing the violin.
To make shift
,
to contrive or manage in an exigency.
“I shall make shift to go without him.”
Shak.

[They]
made a shift
to keep their own in Ireland.
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition

Shift

SHIFT

,
Verb.
I.
1. To move; to change place or position. Vegetables are not able to shift and seek nutriment.
2. To change its direction; to vary; as, the wind shifted from south to west.
3. To change; to give place to other things.
4. To change clothes particularly the under garment or chemise.
5. To resort to expedients for a livelihood, or for accomplishing a purpose; to move from one thing to another, and to seize one expedient when anohter fails.
Men in distress will look to themselves, and leave their companions to shift as well as they can. L'Estrange.
6. To practice indirect methods.
7. To seek methods of safety.
Nature teaches every creature how to shift for itself in cases of danger.

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