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. [ 1913 Webster ]

My going to Oxford was not merely for shift of air. Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

(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. [ 1913 Webster ]

I 'll find a thousand shifts to get away. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Little souls on little shifts rely. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Something frequently shifted; especially, a woman's under-garment; a chemise. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mining) A breaking off and dislocation of a seam; a fault. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Mus.) A change of the position of the hand on the finger board, in playing the violin. [ 1913 Webster ]

To make shift, to contrive or manage in an exigency. “I shall make shift to go without him.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] [ They ] made a shift to keep their own in Ireland. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. 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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To which God of his bounty would shift
Crowns two of flowers well smelling. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hastily he schifte him[ self ]. Piers Plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pare saffron between the two St. Mary's days,
Or set or go shift it that knowest the ways. Tusser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To change the position of; to alter the bearings of; to turn; as, to shift the helm or sails. [ 1913 Webster ]

Carrying the oar loose, [ they ] shift it hither and thither at pleasure. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

I would advise you to shift a shirt. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To change the clothing of; -- used reflexively. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

As it were to ride day and night; and . . . not to have patience to shift me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To put off or out of the way by some expedient. “I shifted him away.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shift the scene for half an hour;
Time and place are in thy power. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To divide; to distribute. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Some this, some that, as that him liketh shift. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here the Baillie shifted and fidgeted about in his seat. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To resort to expedients for accomplishing a purpose; to contrive; to manage. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men in distress will look to themselves, and leave their companions to shift as well as they can. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To practice indirect or evasive methods. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Admitting of being shifted. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ]

n. The quality or state of being shifty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Diplomatic shiftiness and political versatility. J. A. Syminds. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Changing in place, position, or direction; varying; variable; fickle; as, shifting winds; shifting opinions or principles. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Adapted or used for shifting anything. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shifting backstays (Naut.), temporary stays that have to be let go whenever the vessel tacks or jibes. --
Shifting ballast, ballast which may be moved from one side of a vessel to another as safety requires. --
Shifting center. See Metacenter. --
Shifting locomotive. See Switching engine, under Switch. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a shifting manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Destitute of expedients, or not using successful expedients; characterized by failure, especially by failure to provide for one's own support, through negligence or incapacity; hence, lazy; improvident; thriftless; as, a shiftless fellow; shiftless management. -- Shift"less*ly, adv. -- Shift"less*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of, or ready with, shifts; fertile in expedients or contrivance. Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shifty and thrifty as old Greek or modern Scot, there were few things he could not invent, and perhaps nothing he could not endure. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]