SHIFT

Definitions

1. 1. The act of shifting. Specifically:
2. 2. 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.
3. 3. 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.
4. 4. Something frequently shifted; especially, a woman's under-garment; a chemise.
5. 5. 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.
6. 6. In building, the extent, or arrangement, of the overlapping of plank, brick, stones, etc., that are placed in courses so as to break joints.
7. 7. A breaking off and dislocation of a seam; a fault.
8. 8. 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.