shift
verb
uk/ʃɪft/ us [ T ]
to move something to a different place or position:
shift sth to sth They shifted the money to another account.
shift sth out of sth Rising costs forced them to shift manufacturing work out of Europe.
[ I or T ]
to change an opinion, idea, etc.:
shift focus/emphasis/attention
shift (sth) away from sth They have shifted the emphasis of the business away from traditional manufacturing.
shift (sth) towards sth The company has shifted towards a more flexible marketing mix.
HR have shifted their position on overtime working and this will no longer be encouraged.
[ T ] COMMERCE informal
to manage to sell goods:
At that time, Sony had shifted 30 million Playstation3 consoles since launch.
The sales projections were over-optimistic and left them with $100 million of stock they couldn't shift.
shift
noun
uk/ʃɪft/ us [ C ] HR, WORKPLACE
an agreed period of time during the day or night when particular employees work, in a factory, hospital, etc.:
He worked an 8 hour shift at the hospital.
begin/end your shift They begin their shift at 4pm.
[ C ] HR, WORKPLACE
the group of workers who work at a particular time:
the day/night/late shift We work until 8am, when the day shift takes over.
[ C, usually singular ]
a movement or change in something:
a shift in sth There's been a major shift in strategy.
a shift away from/towards sth The shift towards specialisation favours smaller firms.
[ U ] IT
on a computer keyboard, a key that changes the letter, number, or symbol that would normally appear when you press another key at the same time:
Press shift to capitalize letters.
See also
back shift
graveyard shift
night shift
paradigm shift
swing shift