shifting
verb
Meaning
(sometimes figurative) To move from one place to another; to redistribute.
"We'll have to shift these boxes to the downtown office."
To change in form or character; swap.
To change position.
"His political stance shifted daily."
To change residence; to leave and live elsewhere.
"We are shifting to America next month."
To change (clothes, especially underwear).
To change (someone's) clothes; sometimes specifically, to change underwear.
To change gears (in a car).
"I crested the hill and shifted into fifth."
(typewriters) To move the keys of a typewriter over in order to type capital letters and special characters.
(computer keyboards) To switch to a character entry mode for capital letters and special characters.
To manipulate a binary number by moving all of its digits left or right; compare rotate.
"Shifting 1001 to the left yields 10010; shifting it right yields 100."
To remove the first value from an array.
To dispose of.
"How can I shift a grass stain?"
To hurry.
"If you shift, you might make the 2:19."
To engage in sexual petting.
To resort to expedients for accomplishing a purpose; to contrive; to manage.
To practice indirect or evasive methods.
In violin-playing, to move the left hand from its original position next to the nut.
Synonyms
noun
Meaning
A shift or change; a shifting movement.
The phenomenon by which two or more constituents appearing on the same side of their common head exchange positions to obtain non-canonical order.