n. 1. One who, or that which, shifts; one who plays tricks or practices artifice; a cozener. [ 1913 Webster ] 'T was such a shifter that, if truth were known,
Death was half glad when he had got him down. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. (Naut.) An assistant to the ship's cook in washing, steeping, and shifting the salt provisions. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. (Mach.) (a) An arrangement for shifting a belt sidewise from one pulley to another. (b) (Knitting Mach.) A wire for changing a loop from one needle to another, as in narrowing, etc. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. (construction, tunneling) A foreman responsible for the work on one shift in one area, as in one heading{ 4 }. [ RH ] | 
