Word.ws English Dictionary

shift and drift

shift and drift noun: the changes in the influenza virus over time, consisting of gradual antigenic mutations and occasionally more drastic changes when two or more strains combine.

Noun

shift and drift (uncountable)

  1. The changes in the influenza virus over time, consisting of gradual antigenic mutations and occasionally more drastic changes when two or more strains combine.

Questions about shift and drift

What does shift and drift mean?
Shift and drift means the changes in the influenza virus over time, consisting of gradual antigenic mutations and occasionally more drastic changes when two or more strains combine.
What part of speech is shift and drift?
Shift and drift is a noun.

Words near shift and drift in the dictionary

  1. Shifnal
  2. Shifrin
  3. Shifrins
  4. shift
  5. shift about
  6. shift and drift
  7. shift break
  8. shift breaks
  9. shift dress
  10. shift dresses
  11. shift gears

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shift and drift (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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