How to Use shift in a Sentence

shift

1 of 2 verb
Definition of shiftnext
Synonyms for shiftnext
  • They tried to shift the blame onto us.
  • I wanted to shift the discussion back to the main point.
  • She shifted in her seat.
  • I shifted the bag to my other shoulder.
  • Their efforts to shift public opinion have failed.
  • He nervously shifted from foot to foot.
  • She shifted her position slightly so she could see the stage better.
  • They shifted him to a different department.
  • Their attempts at shifting attention away from the controversy seemed to be working.
  • Public opinion has shifted dramatically in recent months.
  • And that balance of oversight is gonna shift over time.
    — Ted Koppel, CBS News, 1 Oct. 2023
  • South winds shift out of the northwest after the front passes.
    — David Streit, Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2023
  • Bath & Body Works is among those shifting stores to strip malls.
    — Jinjoo Lee, WSJ, 27 July 2023
  • Highs should shift back into the 70s, and rain chances should increase too.
    — Matt Rogers, Washington Post, 1 Sep. 2023
  • By the 16th century, time had shifted again and not in a good way.
    — Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 29 Feb. 2024
  • That could shift maps away from areas where the cords are more prone to damage.
    — Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 3 Apr. 2024
  • They are used to shift logs around to increase airflow and keep the flames going strong.
    — Nor'adila Hepburn, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Oct. 2023
  • On Set It Off, Offset tries to shift the spotlight back to the music.
    — Mosi Reeves, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2023
  • Even more mysterious, this false bottom seemed to shift over the course of the day.
    — WIRED, 9 Dec. 2023
  • Britton shifted over to left guard and Miller moved up to the first-team line and played right tackle.
    — Matt Cohen | [email protected], al, 19 Aug. 2023
  • Our discussion shifts back to the Moxy where the artist can begin prepping for a big night out.
    — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 31 Aug. 2023
  • Like other parts of the country, the state's suburbs have shifted more Democratic in the era of Trump.
    — Joey Garrison, USA TODAY, 11 June 2023
  • By Episode 3, not much has shifted in the plot aside from Maya’s return to her hometown of Tamaha.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 10 Jan. 2024
  • The more that people shifted to this kind of understanding, the more their back pain went down.
    — Yoni Ashar, Discover Magazine, 4 Nov. 2023
  • Hovering above this all was the shifting role of Russia.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 28 Sep. 2023
  • But when Mansaray met Alpha in 2013, her worldview started to shift.
    — Monica Potts, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2023
  • These days, the kindest month also has shifted from August to June.
    — Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2024
  • The focus of the market will shift to tightening oil supply, ANZ says.
    — WSJ, 13 July 2023
  • At about a hundred feet, the aircraft shifted to horizontal flight.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
  • The halving has happened roughly every four years, and the next one is expected to happen sometime around April 19 or 20, although that may shift.
    — Rafael Nam, NPR, 16 Apr. 2024
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shift

2 of 2 noun
  • He works the day shift.
  • The day shift worked overtime.
  • The restaurant needed only one shift for lunch.
  • There will be a shift of responsibility when she takes the new position.
  • In the special feature, the role of the Wild symbols shifts.
    — Sponsored Content, The Mercury News, 11 Mar. 2024
  • Light breezes from the northeast shift to the southeast later in the day.
    — David Streit, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024
  • Trump’s allies have started to pick up on the shift, too.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 8 Aug. 2023
  • The meaning of ohana shifts from person to person on the island.
    — Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 18 Aug. 2023
  • For writers, the shift means less work and smaller paychecks.
    — Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Healthy aging seems to require a shift in mind-set as much as a shift in muscle mass.
    — Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
  • In turn, over the years, the sound has also come to symbolize the shift in my skin from oily-in-the-t-zone to completely parched.
    — Dianna Mazzone, Allure, 29 Nov. 2023
  • Experts agree though that any large-scale shift to the yuan is unlikely in the near future.
    — Time, 28 July 2023
  • When the ground shifts under our feet, its vibrations are apt to diffuse.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 16 Nov. 2023
  • The team typically is on the road treating patients for two shifts a day, five days a week.
    — Ciara McCarthy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Feb. 2024
  • The shift for Peck comes as some people close to the campaign blame her for the campaign's current struggles and stagnation in the polls.
    — Rachel Scott, ABC News, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Meredith asks before the scene shifts to a shot of the surgical interns getting ready for a new day.
    — Esther Kang, Peoplemag, 29 Dec. 2023
  • This isn’t the first time Hoskins has seen business standards shift amid rapid societal change.
    — Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 13 Sep. 2023
  • What's at stake Hawaii has gone through major demographic shifts over the last few years.
    — Dara Kerr, NPR, 28 Feb. 2024
  • Diaz isn’t the only star to step into a store shift recently.
    — Sam Burros, Peoplemag, 9 Aug. 2023
  • There was a shift in titles following the death of Queen Elizabeth last year.
    — Stephanie Petit, Peoplemag, 12 June 2023
  • The focus shifts from character to character, from past to present.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 16 Apr. 2024
  • On the streets of Surat, opinion is divided over whether this shift is helping or hurting those in the middle.
    — Sushmita Pathak, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Nov. 2023
  • There’s been this massive shift in TV — in terms of the blurring of lines between comedy and drama.
    — Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Feb. 2024
  • Masters argued that those shifts were a matter of emphasis and that his views on the topic have not changed.
    — Laura Gersony, The Arizona Republic, 28 Feb. 2024
  • Ren was coming of age in the midst of a stark generational shift in America.
    — Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News, 11 Oct. 2023
  • That shift in consumption helps explain why artists have been able to chart many songs over short spans in recent years.
    — Xander Zellner, Billboard, 22 Jan. 2024
  • As for price tags, the industry has undergone a sizable shift there, too.
    — Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Oct. 2023
  • As for why Perry believes there’s such a strong shift toward red hair lately?
    — Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 28 July 2023
  • The shift will be massive, Dalio concedes, but necessary.
    — Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 18 Aug. 2023
  • There’s been both a structural change that has been happening for a long time as well as a cyclical behavioral shift that happened in the midst of the pandemic.
    — Bryan Mena, CNN, 14 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shift.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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