1. [n]  the act of changing one thing or position for another; "his switch on abortion cost him the election"
2. [n]  the act of moving from one place to another; "his constant shifting disrupted the class"
3. [n]  a loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist
4. [n]  a woman's sleeveless undergarment
5. [n]  a qualitative change
6. [n]  an event in which something is displaced without rotation
7. [n]  a group of workers who work for a specific period of time
8. [n]  (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they built it right over a geological fault"
9. [n]  the time period during which you are at work
10. [v]  move from one setting or context to another; "shift the emphasis"; "shift one's attention"
11. [v]  change in quality; "His tone shifted"
12. [v]  make a shift in or exchange of; "First Joe led; then we switched"
13. [v]  move and exchange for another; "shift the date for our class reunion"
14. [v]  lay aside, abandon, or leave for another; "switch to a different brand of beer"; "She switched psychiatrists"; "The car changed lanes"
15. [v]  move abruptly
16. [v]  change place or direction; "Shift one's position"
17. [v]  move sideways or in an unsteady way, as of a ship or a vehicle out of control
18. [v]  move very slightly; "He shifted in his seat"
19. [v]  move around; "transfer the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket"

1. \Shift\, v. 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. sk[=i]fa 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.  --Shak.
   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.            --Shak.
   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.
   

2. \Shift\, n. [Cf. Icel skipti. See {Shift}, v. 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 difficalty; often, an evasion; a
          trick; a fraud. ``Reduced to pitiable shifts.''
          --Macaulay.
                I 'll find a thousand shifts to get away.
                                                  --Shak.
                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.
   

Scalable Heterogeneous Integrated Facility Testbed. A parallel processing project at CERN.