Word.ws English Dictionary

shifted

shifted is the simple past and past participle of shift.

Meaning of shift

Verb

shift (third-person singular simple present shifts, present participle shifting, simple past and past participle shifted)

  1. (figuratively, sometimes, transitive) To move from one place to another; to redistribute.
    • We'll have to shift these boxes to the downtown office.
  2. (ergative, figuratively) To change in form or character; switch.
    • As a result, I shifted my approach to focus on group-generated activities and broadened the chronological time frame.2008, June Granatir Alexander, Ethnic Pride, American Patriotism, page ix
  3. (figuratively, intransitive, reflexive, sometimes) To change position; to move.
    • She shifted slightly in her seat.
    Synonyms:
    reposition
  4. (India, intransitive) To change residence; to leave and live elsewhere.
    • We are shifting to America next month.
    Synonyms:
    move, relocate
  5. (obsolete, transitive) To change (clothes, especially underwear); to change the clothes of.
    • 'Tis very good to wash his hands and face often, to shift his clothes, to have fair linen about him, to be decently and comely attired […]., II.ii.2
  6. (obsolete, reflexive, transitive) To change (someone's) clothes; sometimes specifically, to change underwear.
    • As it were, to ride day and night; and […] not to have patience to shift me.c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...

See all 41 meanings of shift

Phrases with shifted

4 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about shifted

What is shifted the simple past and past participle of?
Shifted is the simple past and past participle of shift.

Words near shifted in the dictionary

  1. shifta
  2. shiftability
  3. shiftable
  4. shiftage
  5. shiftas
  6. shifted
  7. shifted about
  8. shifted gears
  9. shifted geometric distribution
  10. shifted ground
  11. shifted in

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shifted (page history and authors); shift (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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Cite this entry: “shifted.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shifted. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.