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Crossword clues for shift

shift
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
shift
I.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a change/shift in focus
▪ Over the years, there has been a change of focus from treatment to prevention.
a dramatic shift (=change in the way people think or do something)
▪ This announcement signalled a dramatic shift in the government’s policy.
a shift in policy (=a small change)
▪ The shift in policy placed more emphasis on teachers' assessments of students' progress.
change/alter/shift the balance
▪ Will this alter the balance of power in the EU?
▪ His appointment shifted the government’s balance decisively to the right.
change/shift your position
▪ He shifted his position to get a better view of the stage.
gear shift
graveyard shift
night shift
▪ She’s on the night shift this week.
paradigm shift
sb’s gaze moves/travels/shifts/sweeps etc
▪ His gaze travelled over the still water to the other side of the lake.
shift key
shift the blame (onto sb) (=blame someone else for something you did)
▪ She always tried to shift the blame onto her brother.
shift the burden (=change who carries it)
▪ The tax shifts the burden towards the rich.
shift the emphasis (=change the emphasis to something else)
▪ With drug addicts, we need to shift the emphasis from punishment to treatment.
shift the focus (=move it to something else)
▪ Opposition MPs accused the Prime Minister of trying to shift the focus onto other issues.
shifting alliances (=changing frequently)
▪ the shifting alliances in the Middle East
split shift
stick shift
swing shift
the emphasis shifts/moves (=changes)
▪ The emphasis is now shifting away from oil towards renewable sources of energy.
the focus changes/shifts
▪ The focus of the negotiations shifted to working conditions.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
around
▪ My feelings about my childhood shift around all the time.
▪ The lights dimmed, and we all got comfortable, shifting around on our hotel chairs.
▪ They shifted around a lot, too, as the city was rebuilt.
▪ There was nothing worse than a half-packed suitcase; even if tied in, the clothes all shifted around.
▪ Incidentally, both necks can be shifted around in their sockets by applying pressure from the side.
▪ The L curve is thus likely to shift around and be hard to predict.
▪ They keep shifting around and getting moved on and everyone acts like they're a general nuisance.
away
▪ And then the news focus shifted away.
▪ My eyes shifted away from his groin, then back.
▪ For power has been shifted away from us.
▪ Last year, the president shifted away from big-government themes and made tax-cutting his centerpiece.
▪ The shrine and the whole house shook and the ground beneath it seemed to be shifting away as though in an earthquake.
▪ In light of these difficulties, attention has now shifted away from the membrane and toward the proteins embedded in the membrane.
▪ Although illegal-immigration patterns have shifted away from Nogales due to a buildup of federal forces, the area swims in violence.
uncomfortably
▪ She shifted uncomfortably on the ground.
▪ The men at the counter shifted uncomfortably.
▪ The Hearthwares shifted uncomfortably as the water ran down inside their armour, and fumbled oilskin cloaks from their saddle bows.
▪ Pat shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
▪ Ruth shifted uncomfortably in her azure crêpe de Chine cocktail dress.
▪ Jess shifts uncomfortably in her chair.
▪ Paul shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
▪ Yet even as those words appeared in the local newspaper, county authorities were shifting uncomfortably in their chairs.
uneasily
▪ Joshua shifted uneasily in his seat and wished they would hurry up.
▪ He looked at Green and Boyd, who shifted uneasily in their chairs.
▪ Edgar Allan Poe shifted uneasily in the darkness.
▪ The raft shifted uneasily on the sea, the bamboo stiffeners in the sails clattering on the masts.
▪ Poor sullen-faced campesinos shifting uneasily on their seats.
▪ The movie shifts uneasily when Becker tries to wrap everything up neatly.
▪ The eyes of those in the room shifted uneasily from father to son.
▪ Lydia shifted uneasily in her chair.
■ NOUN
attention
▪ I believe that the focus of attention is shifting from curriculum content to how best to teach science.
▪ But as they developed more capacity to deliver services, their attention shifted.
▪ So, in early 1955 attention shifted back to the economic field.
▪ Our attention now shifted to the planes overhead.
▪ Hence attention soon shifted to caesium-134 and-137, the latter with a half-life of 30 years.
▪ In Edinburgh Haynes's time was running out, and his attention shifting elsewhere.
▪ After a healthy buffet lunch, attention will shift to skincare, style and make-up.
balance
▪ At any number of points events could have developed in dramatically different ways if the balance of power had shifted only slightly.
▪ But as they acquired managerial competence, the balance began to shift.
▪ Although the balance of power is shifting against the commission, in absolute terms it will gain power.
▪ Also, the pressure on interest rates has been down and the balance of trade has shifted into surplus.
▪ As interest rates go up, the balance of advantage shifts towards holding financial assets which earn these higher interest rates.
▪ From the 1970s, the balance shifted.
▪ The fulcrum of this balance has shifted.
▪ Between 1982 and 1988, the balance of agency provision shifted markedly as did the nature of that provision.
blame
▪ Time after time, ministers have tried to shift the blame for rising unemployment to the down-turn in the world economy.
▪ By shifting blame to their consumers, these industries have deftly evaded financial accountability for unsafe products and irresponsible marketing.
▪ A third means of avoiding responsibility consists of shifting the blame to even higher officials.
▪ He had to shift the blame, find a sacrificial victim.
▪ Her comments on Radio Derby came as Tories tried to shift the blame for Britain's economic ills elsewhere.
▪ Leaving the abusive marriage, or divorcing him, will be branded desertion or a sin, shifting the blame to her.
▪ It shifts the blame to belief.
▪ This strategy in effect shifts blame from the affluent and powerful to the poor and powerless.
burden
▪ If this achieves nothing else at least it helps shift the burden of guilt.
▪ Recent California proposals attempt to shift the burden to parents to prove their fitness.
▪ Training will be a real partnership between government and industry, not an excuse to shift all the burden on to employers.
▪ To shift that burden to schools is a mistake, even a dereliction.
▪ It is predicted that these changes will result in significance shifts in the rating burden.
▪ To neglect maintenance, however, is only to shift the burden from one part of the household budget to another.
▪ The changes are intended to shift the burden from tax payer to polluter.
▪ The tax will shift the burden of local taxation between different households and different income groups.
chair
▪ By the time he'd finished shifting the chairs, he was wearing grey gloves and a wig.
▪ He looked at Green and Boyd, who shifted uneasily in their chairs.
▪ De Craon shifted in his chair uneasily.
▪ The early-afternoon sun poured in on the Judge, who had shifted in the chair.
▪ Peter was obviously nervous and spoke fast and loudly, shifting about in his chair.
▪ I shifted in my chair, hoping to make eye contact, but the face was gone.
▪ He shifted in his chair, biting his lip.
▪ Scott looked around my office and shifted nervously in his chair.
curve
▪ But if the expected rate of inflation changes then the Phillips curve will shift.
▪ As more firms enter an industry, the supply curve will shift to the right.
▪ Unfortunately, the demand curve may shift unpredictably, making control very difficult.
▪ This means that as firms leave an industry. the supply curve will shift to the left.
▪ The investment curve will shift to I 3 and the level of investment will actually fall to Q3.
▪ This final category, in which both the supply and demand curves shift to the right, is represented in Figure 3.
▪ If the demand curve shifts very much, and if it is inelastic, then monetary control will be very difficult.
▪ A change in supply is involved when the entire supply curve shifts.
demand
▪ Unfortunately, the demand curve may shift unpredictably, making control very difficult.
▪ An unfavorable change in consumer preferences will cause demand to decrease, shifting the curve to the left.
▪ If the demand curve shifts very much, and if it is inelastic, then monetary control will be very difficult.
▪ This final category, in which both the supply and demand curves shift to the right, is represented in Figure 3.
▪ The second influence represents relative demand shifts between markets.
▪ Consumer taste and demand may shift.
▪ What might cause the demand curve to shift?
▪ Wages and membership will be sticky in response to iso-elastic demand shifts, while employment bears the brunt of the adjustment.18 5.3.
emphasis
▪ Such an emphasis shifts the focus away from modifying or repackaging the individual on to a concern to minimise the restrictiveness of opportunities.
▪ But emphasis has now shifted from liberty to order.
▪ The emphasis shifted gradually back to reform.
▪ After June 19 emphasis shifted from the streets to a negotiating track.
▪ The emphasis had shifted radically from the child-centred approach of 1948 to the Seebohm concern for family and community.
▪ Now the emphasis has shifted to efforts to help them spend more.
▪ In 12 months time, however, the emphasis shifts to deficit reduction.
▪ This is because the emphasis has shifted from idealised language data to an examination of language-in-use.
focus
▪ The focus of the drama shifts to discovering the dangers, and weighing up pros and cons of using the magic carpet.
▪ Now, the focus is shifting to washes, the dry stream beds that carry water only after a heavy rain.
▪ The focus of beauty gradually shifts from the physical body to the inner nature.
▪ With the Depression of the 1930s, the main focus of financial management shifted to the defensive aspects of business survival.
▪ In the fourth sentence, the focus suddenly shifts to talking about creators in general and how they realize their dreams.
▪ The focus of resistance now shifted to the countryside.
▪ I believe that the focus of attention is shifting from curriculum content to how best to teach science.
▪ The focus is shifted momentarily from the crew to whales as Ishmael describes the various types.
foot
▪ She felt a giddy sensation of ground shifting under her feet.
▪ He shifted nervously from foot to foot.
▪ The others are in various states of distraction: Eddie is shifting from foot to foot.
▪ Soft ground, trodden flat by uneasy, shifting feet not so many hours ago.
▪ He shifted from one foot to the other as he waited for the door to be answered.
▪ When he reached the stone he stood looking at it, shifting it with his foot.
▪ Belinda shifted her sandalled feet nervously, wondering suddenly if Deana had decided to hang around until the mythical sailor showed up.
gear
▪ I just keep it spinning until it gets to a point where it's not making more power and then shift gears.
▪ Ever since, though, the work on her characters' background has shifted into high gear and stayed there.
▪ There's good torque for clean response and brisk pick-up after shifting gear, but high-end engine output is nothing startling.
▪ In the next few years the Supreme Court may shift gears or even reverse course.
▪ It'd take all of you to shift the gear lever.
▪ Legal troubles are piling up for President and Mrs Clinton just as his campaign for re-election is shifting into full gear.
▪ Engines with good torque back-up handle a wide load changes without the need to shift gear.
▪ She shifts into high gear and gets out of the house, down the hill and over to Starbucks in record time.
ground
▪ She felt a giddy sensation of ground shifting under her feet.
▪ The ground shifted two decades ago when the information age arrived, and intelligence became the chief asset of corporations.
▪ Her shoulder protested at the hardness of the ground, and she shifted, trying to ease it.
▪ He has continued to cling to the middle ground, but that ground has been shifting.
▪ The ground can shift beneath your feet without warning, especially in a place as fluidly unpredictable as the Sierra Leonean bush.
position
▪ She shifted her position and adjusted the fine wool of her skirt over her bony knees.
▪ To achieve electoral success, pragmatic parties might shift their position or expand the range of viewpoints they encompass.
▪ She felt very tired and as she shifted position she detected an ache in her left hip.
▪ Congressman Ashley from Toledo, Ohio, originally opposed including the counties but eventually shifted his position to get the bill passed.
▪ Obtain as much information as you can about his argument, his willingness to shift from the present position.
▪ There is a vast continuum between bureaucratic behavior and entrepreneurial behavior, and government can surely shift its position on that spectrum.
▪ There was some shifting of positions.
power
▪ The reason was that none of these reforms shifted the balance of power within the social structure of the village.
▪ That decision shifted the balance of power away from Wall Street specialists.
▪ This shifts the balance of power towards leasing companies and vehicle hire groups.
▪ They have be-come a standard instrument of government that shifts the power to make policy directly to the voters.
▪ Finally, the reforms aimed to shift the balance of power in determining use of resources from hospital doctors to general practitioners.
▪ The treaty would have shifted power from the central government to the nine republics that had agreed to sign it.
▪ The fact that a majority did vote for them has shifted the balance of power back towards the reformers.
▪ Most of the changes suggested so far would shift some of those powers to parliament.
responsibility
▪ No one can shift responsibility on to others or trade off their resources.
▪ Penney also shifted the responsibilities and titles of several other executives in different regions.
▪ But the move to shift legal responsibility for correct labelling on to the shopkeeper has shocked trade organisations.
▪ That has been changing, with contracts shifting a growing responsibility for premiums and / or costs to workers.
▪ Regretfully traditional inspection often shifts the focus of responsibility for the quality of performance away from the person carrying out the work.
right
▪ About four years ago, Mr Rafsanjani shifted to the right, voicing the reformist policies that the post-war era craved.
▪ For example, a rise in national income will cause L 1 to increase, and thus L will shift to the right.
▪ The sales constraint on firms will progressively diminish and the function will shift to the right.
▪ The marginal physical product of labour curve shifts to the right.
▪ As a result, the equilibrium shown above shifts to the right.
▪ Its centre of gravity had shifted markedly to the right.
seat
▪ Joshua shifted uneasily in his seat and wished they would hurry up.
▪ The audience was silent, shifting in their seats, looking at their shoes.
▪ Miguel opened his eyes and shifted in his seat.
▪ There was much nervous shifting in seats.
▪ Poor sullen-faced campesinos shifting uneasily on their seats.
▪ Pat shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
▪ He shifted in his seat a bit.
▪ He shifted in his seat, half at his ease, and lit a cigar.
weight
▪ He shifted his weight so that his body brushed lightly against hers.
▪ One hip shifted her weight to that side, and suddenly every angle softly flowed into another.
▪ You can make the bike move up to 1.5 metres in a corner just by shifting your weight.
▪ He was frantically shifting his weight from side to side.
▪ The blonde student woke early in Devon, and shifted under the sleeping weight of his arm.
▪ However divorce is as effective as dieting for shifting stubborn weight!
▪ It crunched under her boots as she shifted her weight.
■ VERB
begin
▪ At their feet the edge of the net began to shift off the deck.
▪ Within months, immigrants and their smuggler guides began shifting their routes east, into the mountains near Tecate.
▪ But as they acquired managerial competence, the balance began to shift.
▪ Then he began to shift the first screen and leaned it against an adjoining stretch of wall.
▪ In-house information technology people began to shift from building customized applications to helping their companies choose wisely among open systems vendors.
▪ They began to shift and move away.
▪ Prosecutors said the Freemans panicked and began shifting millions of dollars in investors' money from bank to bank.
try
▪ Still, this ploy of trying to shift people with sounds is clearly catching on.
▪ Wilson will try again to shift more trial-court funding to the state, easing a little of the burden on counties.
▪ You don't know how many coffin nails nor what weight of earth you're trying to shift.
▪ Now the question before you and Tom is whether he should continue to try or should he shift roles?
▪ So what are we to do? Try once more to shift a paradigm?
▪ Time after time, ministers have tried to shift the blame for rising unemployment to the down-turn in the world economy.
▪ They realised that dragging Ollie le Roux was like trying to shift a house.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
move/shift the goalposts
▪ It has been subtly shifting the goalposts of what can be done in and through art.
▪ The answer to failure and sin is not to move the goalposts but to repent and try again.
shift/move your arse
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ shifting attitudes toward homosexuality
▪ Blood stains are very difficult to shift.
▪ Come on Des, give me a hand to shift these and then we can go home.
▪ I've washed the tablecloth three times, but I can't seem to shift these stains.
▪ Investors were shifting funds from U.S. to Asian stocks.
▪ She shifted her gaze from me to Bobby with a look of suspicion.
▪ Tell Alan to shift his feet so Maggie can sit down.
▪ The building's foundation has shifted, which is why there are cracks in the plaster.
▪ The leather armchair creaked as Roberts shifted his bulk.
▪ The sofa is stuck in the doorway and I can't shift it.
▪ The sun had shifted to the west.
▪ There's no point trying to shift the car by ourselves -- we'll have to get a truck to pull us out.
▪ There is a strong need to shift more resources toward health care.
▪ When are you going to shift all this rubbish? It's making the place look a real mess.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But if the expected rate of inflation changes then the Phillips curve will shift.
▪ However, the bullet in Rocio brain is moving, shifting.
▪ It could also hurt the software industry, although companies working on the Internet Box say it would just shift software sales.
▪ Notice also that the distribution is shifted to higher speeds at a higher temperature.
▪ The planet as a whole will be moving with respect to the Earth, and this will shift all wavelengths in the pulse.
▪ The text on the screen will shift to the left, some off the edge of the screen and out of view.
II.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
dramatic
▪ After 1715 we see a sudden and dramatic shift in the leadership of both parties.
▪ With this dramatic and disorienting shift in the way corporations structure themselves comes a change in business Ianguage.
▪ The literature of the time provides ample evidence of a dramatic shift in public attitudes.
▪ By himself, Woods can create dramatic ratings shifts on national television by playing in a tournament, any tournament.
▪ We need to reduce the demand for travel and see a dramatic shift towards public transport, cycling and walking.
▪ Environmental policy subsequently underwent dramatic shifts in both stride and direction.
▪ The most dramatic shift is between the years 1971 and 1978.
▪ There has been a dramatic shift of population since the 1950s: hunting-and-fishing settlements gave way to small towns.
early
▪ The place was almost empty: he was having lunch early because he was working the early shift.
▪ The chronicles and histories of most nations include this early stage of shift from local parochialism to centralized authority.
▪ There was a whole transport of people in the station coming home from early shift.
▪ People on early shift were heading purposefully to work.
▪ On Wednesdays the early shift stopped work to hear the Minister's nationwide broadcast.
▪ The last meal is scheduled early because of the shift rota operated by officers.
fundamental
▪ Will he effect a fundamental and long-term shift in Britain's tax and spend regime?
▪ Over the years, there have been fundamental shifts in policy and strategy as attitudes toward the rural poor wax and wane.
▪ The skill with which Coenwulf conserved Offa's imperium, however, can obscure some fundamental shifts of emphasis.
▪ The fundamental shift in their self-concepts was well under way.
▪ The fundamental shift towards allowing outside concessions to take new exploration areas, represents good long-term opportunities for the Wood Group.
▪ The fundamental shift is from provider to enabler.
▪ A fundamental shift in the emerging essence of the fishnet organization is the recasting of problems as dilemmas.
gradual
▪ This involvement testifies to a gradual shift of emphasis from the sectarian to the collaborative.
▪ That gradual shift in attitudes was first seen in the 1992 presidential debates between Bill Clinton and George Bush.
▪ This is a gradual shift in social attitudes.
▪ Those last years saw a gradual shift from the somnambulance and uncertain awakenings of my earlier time in college.
▪ With the end of the medieval period, however, a gradual shift in viewpoint took place.
great
▪ Within twenty years and a mere ten thousand foxes, the farmers saw a great shift in their charges.
▪ The great shift toward less fatty beef and more chicken is a great, heart-healthy move.
▪ The Hot Autumn marked a greater shift in the balance of power between labour and capital than occurred elsewhere.
▪ So there it stands, a symbol of the great shift in southern politics.
late
▪ Ed Williams often worked late shifts as a chemical operator for the Albemarle Co., arriving home before dawn.
▪ Working the late shift is hard.
major
▪ At this intraregional scale the resuIt has been a major shift in the urban-rural balance of manufacturing industry.
▪ His top offensive threats are two temperamental sophomores, and he made a major schematic shift in midseason.
▪ Greatly increased taxes and a major shift back to defence expenditure could be the least of our worries.
▪ Either Mrs David has had an enormous impact on her countrymen or a major paradigm shift has occurred.
▪ This book explores the idea of major economic shifts being on the agenda.
▪ And third, in the last few centuries there has been a major shift of population to seaside cities.
▪ A key concept in understanding such major shifts, and relating them to wider economic change, is uneven development.
▪ Can we expect a major shift to closed circuit?
radical
▪ But future Budgets need more radical shifts.
▪ The prospect of radical shifts in urban policy faded just as quickly.
▪ The prospect of artificial intelligence and life online has contributed to a radical shift in interpersonal relations.
▪ Then there is the potential for a radical shift in the billing of telephone calls.
▪ Science itself had undergone a radical shift since the Great War.
significant
▪ So 1987/88 showed a significant shift in the balance of National Certificate entries.
▪ Elections held this spring, for instance, presented a significant shift away from direct party political involvement in the Association.
▪ But although change is ever-present, some periods seem to see greater and more significant shifts than others.
▪ This has given the impression of a significant shift of resources in their direction.
▪ There has, for example, been a significant shift in investment from the public to the private sector.
▪ The Act marks the most significant shift in direction of the education service since that of 1944.
▪ This specifically educational definition has of course continued, but its adoption by artists marks a significant shift.
▪ The sixteenth century saw a significant shift in authority in Lewes.
subtle
▪ But some underlying patterning remains, despite the intervening years and the subtle shifts in values and beliefs.
▪ Although subtle, this shift demonstrates what health professionals see as a change in priority.
▪ Its subtle body shift has the power to nullify a forceful attack from an opponent.
▪ There also was a subtle shift in defensive emphasis and a major one on offense that combined to save them from themselves.
▪ This subtle shift has a great deal to do with the current fashion accessory of an eligible husband rather than an eligible boss.
sudden
▪ After 1715 we see a sudden and dramatic shift in the leadership of both parties.
▪ They are used by sophisticated investors to insulate themselves from losses due to sudden market shifts.
▪ Why the sudden shift in sentiment?
▪ Firms that provide swaps buy or sell U. S. Treasuries to hedge against sudden interest rate shifts.
■ NOUN
day
▪ The night shift finished; the day shift take over.
▪ One time they switched me from the night shift to the day shift, so I worked sixteen hours straight.
▪ They even have day shifts and night shifts.
gear
▪ Her gear shifts sounded like twenty cooks pushing trays of silverware into an industrial-strength garbage disposal.
graveyard
▪ Reid reportedly worked as a stock clerk on the graveyard shift at a Wal-Mart in Mountain View.
▪ I worked the graveyard shift and she would wake me up.
night
▪ Check the night shift log book for any messages or matters to be dealt with. 2.
▪ When afternoon came, a doctor asked Martha if she would take the night shift and care for Ted herself.
▪ Half-way through his night shift, coppersmith Norman was paralysed by a rare disease.
▪ She went on the night shift in the pneumonia ward, where she helped dispense care and medicine.
▪ The night shift finished; the day shift take over.
▪ Unlike other law enforcement agencies, there are no standard day, evening and night shifts at the sheriff's department.
▪ Occasionally he will get in early to see the morning shift or stay late for the night shift.
▪ One time they switched me from the night shift to the day shift, so I worked sixteen hours straight.
paradigm
▪ Either Mrs David has had an enormous impact on her countrymen or a major paradigm shift has occurred.
▪ Can we expect to see a paradigm shift, where people want to drive less?
▪ To wit, a paradigm shift.
policy
▪ In the longer term, the new Child Support Agency represents a major policy shift.
▪ While the federal policy shift began a decade ago, forest managers have been slow to put it into practice.
▪ Signs of a policy shift towards a more protectionist approach have already been detected.
▪ So each played it by ear, with resulting policy shifts that often appeared to be not only sudden but incomprehensible.
▪ The policy shift was triggered by a sharp increase in violent crimes committed by young offenders during the late 1980s.
▪ But it would signal a policy shift by the central bank that could crimp the economy severely later on.
stick
▪ Guys who love the way a stick shift or a remote feels in their hands.
system
▪ Industrial relations became strained when the post office abolished a flexible shift system at the SWindon branch.
▪ A shift system has been introduced at Broughton.
▪ Tilne - some organisations operate on a shift system so the structure is based around a particular shift.
▪ A shift system that improves junior doctors' working conditions is unlikely to save money.
▪ A sleep profile for some one on such a shift system is shown in Fig. 2.4.
▪ A two shift system was introduced in this department to coincide with the shift working in the underframe shop.
work
▪ She used to be a typist and is married to a car patrolman on shift work.
▪ Those on shift work generally found it fairly easy to change with a friend, provided sufficient warning was available.
worker
▪ As a shift worker, I am able to play during the week.
▪ We got up at 6 a.m. to start making bacon and tomato butties for the Co-op Bakery and homeward-bound shift workers.
▪ On Friday 6 June night shift workers again took unofficial action when a mixed material containing asbestos dust spilled.
▪ Aside from shift workers, which groups of people are disproportionately liable to be stopped and questioned by the police?
■ VERB
cause
▪ The variable we are interested in here is the variable which has caused the shift in the aggregate demand curve.
▪ He claimed that the site was geologically unsound and any stress caused by a shift in water levels could cause an earthquake.
▪ Again, we can expect long-term influences such as increasing income and wealth to cause a rightward shift of the demand curve.
involve
▪ Part of this new regulation has involved a shift towards central rather than local control.
▪ The history of how humans learned to love zero involves startling shifts in metaphysics, mathematics and science.
mark
▪ It was decisive, in that it was marked by a shift in the character of the student body.
▪ A border is a dividing line marking an abrupt shift between two separate, sometimes antagonistic, entities.
▪ And such changes mark a decisive shift away from local democracy.
▪ Between 1988 and 2000, the workforce will undergo a marked shift.
▪ The Act marks the most significant shift in direction of the education service since that of 1944.
▪ This specifically educational definition has of course continued, but its adoption by artists marks a significant shift.
▪ The move appears to mark a significant shift in Government policy.
▪ It marks a decisive shift on the part of the Sri Lankan government to sacrifice self-reliance for the possibility of increased foreign revenues.
occur
▪ Research into technological innovation has generally assumed that although shifts have occurred they have been within a stable organisational framework.
▪ Such shifts have occurred just twice in the last century.
▪ The Smith-Thomson critique offers no causal explanation of precisely why shifts have occurred in the balance of community and state provision.
▪ The question is thus worth asking why this shift of emphasis has occurred.
▪ The second shift occurs when both the centre of orientation and the related objects are excluded from the canonical situation.
▪ Either Mrs David has had an enormous impact on her countrymen or a major paradigm shift has occurred.
▪ A shift in orientation has occurred in just the last ten years.
reflect
▪ It now appears that much of the change whose initial signs he spotted did in fact reflect a climatic shift.
▪ As insurers made changes at different times, sales levels z fluctuated reflecting the shifts.
▪ This rate has dipped significantly in the last two years reflecting the shift in priorities of the government's cultural policy.
▪ The multimillion-dollar hard sell for psychiatric drugs reflects a striking shift in attitudes toward mental illness.
▪ At the same time, recent Social Service legislation reflects a shift in Government policy.
▪ The protocol reflected the continuing shift in favour of environmental protection, while recognizing the extent of differences which remained.
represent
▪ They represent a shift in the social division of labour related to changes in the organization of manufacturing production.
▪ We sometimes say that this represents the shift from compliance-based organizations to commitment-based organizations.
▪ Suggests that this could represent a permanent shift in the housing market.
▪ We could as well say that it represents a shift from requirements to desires.
▪ The changes in the early 1970s were modifications of existing procedure and did not represent a major shift in emphasis.
▪ In the longer term, the new Child Support Agency represents a major policy shift.
▪ In that respect, the White Paper represents a major shift in decision-making about health care priorities.
require
▪ Above: The introduction of a transition curve requires a lateral shift of the line.
▪ We are offended by reports which contradict our views; they require a total structural shift in our understanding of marriage.
▪ To think in these terms requires a shift in the way humans conceive of time, the researchers said.
show
▪ So 1987/88 showed a significant shift in the balance of National Certificate entries.
▪ A new Time magazine poll shows a huge shift among women who voted against Clinton in 1992 but prefer him now.
▪ They show that the crucial shift to self-fertilization in the cultivated plant involves but a single gene.
▪ In this case, the supply response is shown by a shift of the curve.
▪ P.P. showed no consistent shifts of gaze to a target.
▪ Its falling demand for bills is shown by an upward shift of the demand curve to.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
shift/move your arse
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ He is very worried about the shift towards free market thinking in Eastern Europe.
▪ The new emphasis on human rights was a shift away from the policies of Nixon.
▪ There has been a big shift in attitudes towards sex during the past 50 years.
▪ We've seen a marked shift in our approach to the social issues.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ At Ellesmere Port a foreman and seven fitters run a 24 hour operation in two main shifts.
▪ But what kind of shift is involved?
▪ It required six technicians to operate it on each shift.
▪ Members of all three shifts were milling about the circular room: repeating rumours, distorting facts and generally hyping themselves up.
▪ The circuit of a 2-bit shift register is shown in Fig. 18.
▪ The great shift toward less fatty beef and more chicken is a great, heart-healthy move.
▪ With the end of the medieval period, however, a gradual shift in viewpoint took place.
Related phrases:
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Shift

Shift \Shift\ (sh[i^]ft), 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.

Shift

Shift \Shift\, n. [Cf. Icel. skipti. See Shift, v. t.]

  1. The act of shifting. Specifically:

    1. 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.

    2. 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.
      --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.

Shift

Shift \Shift\, v. 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.
    --Shak.

    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.

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Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
shift

"body garment, underclothing," 1590s, originally used alike of men's and women's pieces, probably from shift (n.1), which was commonly used in reference to a change of clothes. In 17c., it began to be used as a euphemism for smock, and was itself displaced, for similar reasons of delicacy, in 19c. by chemise.

shift

Old English sciftan, scyftan "arrange, place, order," also "divide, partition; distribute, allot, share," from Proto-Germanic *skiftan (cognates: Old Norse skipta "to divide, change, separate," Old Frisian skifta "to decide, determine, test," Dutch schiften "to divide, turn," German schichten "to classify," Schicht "shift"). This is said to be related to the source of Old English sceadan "divide, separate," (see shed (v.)).\n

\nc.1200 as "to dispose; make ready; set in order, control," also intransitive, "take care of oneself." From c.1300 as "to go, move, depart; move (someone or something), transport." Sense of "to alter, to change" appeared mid-13c. (compare shiftless). Meaning "change the gear setting of an engine" is from 1910; to shift gears in the figurative sense is from 1961. Related: Shifted; shifting.

shift

c.1300, "a movement, a beginning," from shift (v.). This is the word in to make shift "make efforts" (mid-15c.). Sense of "change, alteration" is from 1560s. Sense of "means to an end" is from 1520s; hence "an expedient." Meaning "mechanism for changing gear in a motor vehicle" is recorded from 1914. Typewriter shift key is from 1893; shift-lock is from 1899.\n

\nMeaning "period of working time" (originally in a mine) is attested from 1809, with older sense "relay of horses" (1708); perhaps with sense influenced by a North Sea Germanic cognate word (such as North Frisian skeft "division, stratum," skaft "one of successive parties of workmen"). Similar double senses of "division" and "relay of workers" exist in Swedish skift, German schicht.

Wiktionary
shift

n. 1 (context historical English) a type of women's undergarment, a slip 2 a change of workers, now specifically a set group of workers or period of working time 3 an act of shifting; a slight movement or change vb. (context transitive English) To change, swap.

Related phrases:
WordNet
shift

  1. n. an event in which something is displaced without rotation [syn: displacement]

  2. a qualitative change [syn: transformation, transmutation]

  3. the time period during which you are at work [syn: work shift, duty period]

  4. the act of changing one thing or position for another; "his switch on abortion cost him the election" [syn: switch, switching]

  5. the act of moving from one place to another; "his constant shifting disrupted the class" [syn: shifting]

  6. (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" [syn: fault, geological fault, fracture, break]

  7. a group of workers who work for a specific period of time

  8. a woman's sleeveless undergarment [syn: chemise, shimmy, slip, teddies, teddy]

  9. a loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist [syn: chemise, sack]

shift

  1. v. make a shift in or exchange of; "First Joe led; then we switched" [syn: switch, change over]

  2. change place or direction; "Shift one's position" [syn: dislodge, reposition]

  3. move around; "transfer the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket" [syn: transfer]

  4. move very slightly; "He shifted in his seat" [syn: stir, budge, agitate]

  5. move from one setting or context to another; "shift the emphasis"; "shift one's attention"

  6. change in quality; "His tone shifted"

  7. move and exchange for another; "shift the date for our class reunion"

  8. move sideways or in an unsteady way; "The ship careened out of control" [syn: careen, wobble, tilt]

  9. move abruptly; "The ship suddenly lurched to the left" [syn: lurch, pitch]

  10. use a shift key on a keyboard; "She could not shift so all ther letters are written in lower case"

  11. change phonetically as part of a systematic historical change; "Grimm showed how the consonants shifted"

  12. change gears; "you have to shift when you go down a steep hill"

  13. lay aside, abandon, or leave for another; "switch to a different brand of beer"; "She switched psychiatrists"; "The car changed lanes" [syn: switch, change]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
SHIFT
Shift (album)

Shift is the final studio album by Swedish grindcore band Nasum. It was released on October 26, 2004, by Burning Heart Records in Sweden and on Relapse Records in North America. After this album was released, Mieszko Talarczyk died during the 2004 Tsunami. This was followed by the disbanding of Nasum.

Shift (game)

Shift is a flash game series created and developed by Antony Lavelle and published by Armor Games. The game has had many versions and has been ported to iOS and PlayStation Minis. The gameplay revolves around pressing the shift key to flip the room. The games have had critical success with Shift 2 having a score of 87/100 on Metacritic.

Shift (company)

Shift is a Japanese independent video game development company founded in June 1999. The company has developed various games on home and portable consoles, cell phones, and smart phones.

Their first release was Devil Dice for the PlayStation. The latest release was God Eater 2, which was released for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita on November 14, 2013 in Japan.

Shift (magazine)

Shift was a Canadian magazine, devoted to technology and culture. It has now ceased publication as a print magazine. Its website continued to publish new content for at least a year after the print title was discontinued, but is no longer in operation.

Shift was founded in 1992 by Evan Solomon and Andrew Heintzman. It was originally an arts and literary journal, but evolved into a technology magazine. Articles by regular writer Clive Thompson focused on the culture and theory behind new media. Solomon left the magazine in 1999 to devote more time to his writing and broadcasting career.

In the late 1990s, the magazine attempted to expand its American presence in order to compete with similar magazines such as Wired. However, this endeavour proved costly, and the magazine eventually ceased publishing. A short-lived television show inspired by the magazine was also unsuccessful.

Shift (MSNBC)

Shift (stylized as shift by msnbc, formerly msnbc2) is an online live-streaming video network run by MSNBC. It was launched in July 2014 to provide a platform for original video series which diverge from the MSNBC television network's political focus.

Shift (gridiron football)

In gridiron football, a shift refers to the movement of an offensive player prior to the snap.

Shift (The Living End album)

Shift is the seventh album by the Australian rock band The Living End. It was produced by Woody Annison and recorded at Red Door Sounds in Melbourne, Australia.

Shift (Narnia)

Shift is a fictional character in the children's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. He is the main antagonist of The Last Battle, which is the last book of the series. Shift is an ape who, like many animals in Lewis' work, can talk. At the beginning of the book, he lives near his friend/servant Puzzle the donkey at the base of the Great Waterfall, next to the Caldron Pool where the Great River starts its course to the sea. Lewis describes Shift as, "the cleverest, ugliest, most wrinkled Ape you can imagine."

Shift (novel)

For the 2013 novella written by Hugh Howey, see Silo (series). Shift is a 2010 alternative history book by Tim Kring and Dale Peck and is the first book in the Gates of Orpheus trilogy, originally titled as the Flag of Orpheus trilogy. The book was released on August 10, 2010 in the United States by Crown Publishing and centers around a series of secretive government experiments with LSD and its repercussions. Kring has stated that he first began work on the novel after the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and intended to make use of multiple forms of media to promote the novel and further its storyline.

Shift (sculpture)

Shift is a large outdoor sculpture by American artist Richard Serra, located in King City, Ontario, Canada about 50 kilometers north of Toronto. The work was commissioned in 1970 by art collector Roger Davidson and installed on his family property. Shift consists of six large concrete forms, each 20 centimetres thick and 1.5 metres high, zigzagging over about four hectares of rolling countryside. In 1990 the Township of King voted to designate Shift and the surrounding land as a protected cultural landscape under the Ontario Heritage Act. The property is now owned by a Toronto-based developer who announced in 2010 that they appeal the decision of the Ontario Conservation Review board with plans to develop the property for housing, necessitating the removal of Shift. In 2013 the Township of King voted to prepare a bylaw to designate Shift as protected under the Ontario Heritage Act, preventing its destruction or alteration.

Shift (radio program)

Shift is a national Canadian public radio music program presented by Tom Allen and broadcast on CBC Radio 2 that spans the genres of classical, singer- songwriter and pop music.

According to its official webpage: "Shift presents music that is multi-genre and familiar, programmed to engage the at-work or at-home listener with a lively and varied soundtrack for the afternoon. Host Tom Allen brings the music to life with stories of composers, performers and the everyday world, delivered in his warm, conversational style."

Shift is broadcast each weekday from Monday to Friday between 1:00pm and 3:30pm EST ( Eastern Standard Time).

Shift (business)

Shift is an online, peer-to-peer, marketplace for buying and selling used cars. Founded in 2014, Shift is an American company based in San Francisco’s Castro District. , the company offers its services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Diego, California.

The leadership team includes co-founders George Arison, CEO and founder of Taxi Magic; Minnie Ingersoll, chief operating officer; Christian Ohler, chief technology officer; and Morgan Knutson, head of design. Backed by Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (GSIP), Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), Highland Capital Partners, SV Angel, Great Oaks Venture Capital, DCM Ventures and others, Shift raised $73.8 million .

Shift hires employees it calls "car enthusiasts" to manage the process of car buying and selling for the consumer. They facilitate test drives, financing options, inspections, Department of Motor Vehicles interactions, detailing, pricing and merchandising. At the beginning of the selling process, Shift employees assess the car, give the customer a price and sign a contract. Then they bring the car to the Shift warehouse and prepare it for sale. Potential customers can request to be picked up at home for a test drive. There's a seven-day, 250-mile return policy.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "shift".

The Aberrant thing gave another great pull, and the whole caravan shifted.

FMT attracted the attention of the endocrine barons of Abraxas, and the whole story shifted into a higher gear.

For your willing ear and prospectus of what you might teach us, we will make sure, on your eight-hour shift, that we take all drunks, accidents, gunshots, and abusive hookers away from the House of God and across town to the E.

She flexed the controls, watching the moire patterns of stress and acceleration shift, trying to correlate them with what she was feeling.

Bartleby, lies about a century of early America, consolidating itself as a Christian capitalist state, even as acedia was in the last stages of its shift over from a spiritual to a secular condition.

I segued into the second movement, that sense of bright expectation replaced by the slow, haunting strains of the Adagio, at once lyrical and sad -- mirroring the turns my own life had taken, the shifting harmonies sounding to me like the raised voices of ghosts, of echoes.

Her sails spread slowly, catching the outwind of the local sun, their lead surfaces adazzle in shifting, light show display.

We could not, I adjudged, shifting my knees lower on his barrel, gain the trees before true day.

And even if they did, when adolescence came, when most people started shifting, would they be able to control their urges to shift?

In a small deep agate nest, one of the boneless beings shifted back and forth.

At once the riding became easier, for the moment a gust of wind hit the machine on one side, the elevators and ailerons shifted and counteracted its uneven effect.

The relative decline in politico-economic influence of the Northern Hemisphere during the later twentieth century, the shift of civilized dominance to a Southeast Asia-Indian Ocean region with more resources, did not, as alarmists at the time predicted, spell the end of Western civilization.

Thure and Bud, their eyes shifting restlessly from the face of the alcalde to the faces of the surrounding crowd.

Nysander shouted the command, and the stag form shifted and dissolved, leaving Alec in a dazed heap on the grass.

The platform tilted down ominously as he shifted his weight, but Alec hauled him quickly to safety on the stairs.