English Explanatory Dictionary

shifter

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. One who, or that which, shifts or changes.
  2. A word whose meaning changes depending on the situation, as by deixis.
  3. Someone who plays tricks; a trickster.
  4. An assistant to the ship's cook in washing, soaking, and shifting the salt provisions.
  5. A control device (usually a lever or button) for shifting gears in a gearbox, or an arrangement for shifting a belt sidewise from one pulley to another.
  6. A wire for changing a loop from one needle to another, as in narrowing, etc.
  7. A component used by the rider to control the gearing mechanisms and select the desired gear ratio, usually connected to the derailleur by a mechanical actuation cable.
  8. A spanner with an adjustable jaw size.
  9. A person employed to repair the horseways and other passages, and keep them unobstructed.
  10. A switcher or shunter: a railroad locomotive used for shunting.
  11. A shape-shifter; a person or other being capable of changing their physical form, especially a lycanthrope.
  12. A shiftworker.

Pronunciation

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-shifter.wav

Word forms

shifter shifters

Etymology

From shift + -er.

Synonyms

shifting spanner adjustable spanner changeling shape-shifter shapeshifter shifter

Related words

stickshift

Derived words

barrel shifter brifter column shifter downshifter frameshifter left-handed smoke shifter nymshifter paddle shifter phase shifter quickshifter quick shifter sceneshifter scene-shifter shapeshifter shifter cart video shifter woodshifter
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