Shift \Shift\, 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Shift \Shift\, 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.

My going to Oxford was not merely for shift of air. --Sir H. Wotton.
   (b) A turning from one thing to another; hence, an expedient tried in difficalty; 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)