Alter vs. Shift — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Alter and Shift
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Compare with Definitions
Alter
Change in character or composition, typically in a comparatively small but significant way
Our outward appearance alters as we get older
Eliot was persuaded to alter the passage
Shift
Move or cause to move from one place to another, especially over a small distance
A team from the power company came to shift the cables away from the house
The roof cracked and shifted
Alter
To change or make different; modify
Altered my will.
Shift
Change gear in a vehicle
She shifted down to fourth
Alter
To adjust (a garment) for a better fit.
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Shift
Be evasive or indirect
They know not how to shift and rob as the old ones do
Alter
To castrate or spay (an animal, such as a cat or a dog).
Shift
A slight change in position, direction, or tendency
A shift in public opinion
Alter
To change or become different.
Shift
Each of two or more recurring periods in which different groups of workers do the same jobs in relay
Anne was on the night shift
Alter
(transitive) To change the form or structure of.
Shift
A woman's straight unwaisted dress.
Alter
(intransitive) To become different.
Shift
An ingenious or devious device or stratagem
The thousand shifts and devices of which Hannibal was a master
Alter
(transitive) To tailor clothes to make them fit.
Shift
To exchange (one thing) for another of the same class
Shifted assignments among the students.
Alter
(transitive) To castrate, neuter or spay (a dog or other animal).
Shift
To move or transfer from one place or position to another.
Alter
(transitive) To affect mentally, as by psychotropic drugs or illness.
Shift
To alter (position or place).
Alter
An identity or headmate of a person with dissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder); a member of a system.
Shift
To change (gears), as in an automobile.
Alter
To make otherwise; to change in some respect, either partially or wholly; to vary; to modify.
It gilds all objects, but it alters none.
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Shift
(Linguistics) To alter phonetically as part of a systematic historical change.
Alter
To agitate; to affect mentally.
Shift
To change position, direction, place, or form.
Alter
To geld.
Shift
To provide for one's own needs; get along
"See me safe up.
Alter
To become, in some respects, different; to vary; to change; as, the weather alters almost daily; rocks or minerals alter by exposure.
Shift
To get along by tricky or evasive means.
Alter
Cause to change; make different; cause a transformation;
The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city
The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue
Shift
To change gears, as when driving an automobile.
Alter
Make or become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence;
Her mood changes in accordance with the weather
The supermarket's selection of vegetables varies according to the season
Shift
(Linguistics) To be altered as part of a systematic historical change. Used of speech sounds.
Alter
Make an alteration to;
This dress needs to be altered
Shift
To use a shift key.
Alter
Insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby
Shift
A change from one person or configuration to another; a substitution.
Alter
Remove the ovaries of;
Is your cat spayed?
Shift
A group of workers that relieve another on a regular schedule.
Shift
The working period of such a group
Worked the night shift.
Shift
A means to an end; an expedient.
Shift
A stratagem; a trick.
Shift
A change in direction
A shift in the wind.
Shift
A change in attitude, judgment, or emphasis.
Shift
(Music) A change of the hand position in playing the violin or a similar instrument.
Shift
(Football) A rearrangement of players from one formation to another just prior to the snap of the ball.
Shift
(Baseball) A rearrangement of one or more fielders for improved defense against a particular hitter.
Shift
(Geology) See fault.
Shift
(Computers) Movement of characters in a register to the left or right, as of the bits in a byte.
Shift
The act or an instance of using a shift key.
Shift
(Physics) A change in wavelength, causing a movement of a spectral band or line.
Shift
A systematic change of the phonetic or phonemic structure of a language.
Shift
Functional shift.
Shift
A loosely fitting dress that hangs straight from the shoulder; a chemise.
Shift
A woman's undergarment; a slip or chemise.
Shift
(historical) A type of women's undergarment of dress length worn under dresses or skirts, a slip or chemise.
Just last week she bought a new shift at the market.
Shift
A simple straight-hanging, loose-fitting dress.
Shift
A change of workers, now specifically a set group of workers or period of working time.
We'll work three shifts a day till the job's done.
Shift
An act of shifting; a slight movement or change.
There was a shift in the political atmosphere.
Shift
(US) The gear mechanism in a motor vehicle.
Does it come with a stick-shift?
Shift
Alternative spelling of Shift.
If you press shift-P, the preview display will change.
Shift
(computing) A control code or character used to change between different character sets.
Shift
(computing) An instance of the use of such a code or character.
Shift
(computing) A bit shift.
Shift
(baseball) An infield shift.
Teams often use a shift against this lefty.
Shift
The act of kissing passionately.
Shift
(archaic) A contrivance, a device to try when other methods fail.
Shift
(archaic) A trick, an artifice.
Shift
(construction) The extent, or arrangement, of the overlapping of plank, brick, stones, etc., that are placed in courses so as to break joints.
Shift
(mining) A breaking off and dislocation of a seam; a fault.
Shift
(genetics) A mutation in which the DNA or RNA from two different sources (such as viruses or bacteria) combine.
Shift
(music) In violin-playing, any position of the left hand except that nearest the nut.
Shift
A period of time in which one's consciousness resides in another reality, usually achieved through meditation or other means.
Shift
To move from one place to another; to redistribute.
We'll have to shift these boxes to the downtown office.
Shift
To change in form or character; swap.
Shift
(intransitive) To change position.
She shifted slightly in her seat.
His political stance shifted daily.
Shift
To change residence; to leave and live elsewhere.
We are shifting to America next month.
Shift
To change (clothes, especially underwear).
Shift
To change (someone's) clothes; sometimes specifically, to change underwear.
Shift
(intransitive) To change gears (in a car).
I crested the hill and shifted into fifth.
Shift
(typewriters) To move the keys of a typewriter over in order to type capital letters and special characters.
Shift
(computer keyboards) To switch to a character entry mode for capital letters and special characters.
Shift
To manipulate a binary number by moving all of its digits left or right; compare rotate.
Shifting 1001 to the left yields 10010; shifting it right yields 100.
Shift
To remove the first value from an array.
Shift
(transitive) To dispose of.
How can I shift a grass stain?
Shift
(intransitive) To hurry; to move quickly.
If you shift, you might make the 2:19.
Shift
To engage in sexual petting.
Shift
(archaic) To resort to expedients for accomplishing a purpose; to contrive; to manage.
Shift
To practice indirect or evasive methods.
Shift
(music) In violin-playing, to move the left hand from its original position next to the nut.
Shift
To change the reality one's consciousness resides in through meditation or other means.
I finally shifted to Hogwarts last night!
Shift
To divide; to distribute; to apportion.
To which God of his bounty would shiftCrowns two of flowers well smelling.
Shift
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].
Pare saffron between the two St. Mary's days,Or set or go shift it that knowest the ways.
Shift
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.
Shift
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.
Shift
To change the clothing of; - used reflexively.
As it were to ride day and night; and . . . not to have patience to shift me.
Shift
To put off or out of the way by some expedient.
Shift the scene for half an hour;Time and place are in thy power.
Shift
To divide; to distribute.
Some this, some that, as that him liketh shift.
Shift
To make a change or changes; to change position; to move; to veer; to substitute one thing for another; - used in the various senses of the transitive verb.
The sixth age shiftsInto the lean and slippered pantaloon.
Here the Baillie shifted and fidgeted about in his seat.
Shift
To resort to expedients for accomplishing a purpose; to contrive; to manage.
Men in distress will look to themselves, and leave their companions to shift as well as they can.
Shift
To practice indirect or evasive methods.
All those schoolmen, though they were exceeding witty, yet better teach all their followers to shift, than to resolve by their distinctions.
Shift
To slip to one side of a ship, so as to destroy the equilibrum; - said of ballast or cargo; as, the cargo shifted.
Shift
The act of shifting.
My going to Oxford was not merely for shift of air.
I 'll find a thousand shifts to get away.
Little souls on little shifts rely.
Shift
Something frequently shifted; especially, a woman's under-garment; a chemise.
Shift
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.
Shift
In building, the extent, or arrangement, of the overlapping of plank, brick, stones, etc., that are placed in courses so as to break joints.
Shift
A breaking off and dislocation of a seam; a fault.
Shift
A change of the position of the hand on the finger board, in playing the violin.
[They] made a shift to keep their own in Ireland.
Shift
An event in which something is displaced without rotation
Shift
A qualitative change
Shift
The time period during which you are at work
Shift
The act of changing one thing or position for another;
His switch on abortion cost him the election
Shift
The act of moving from one place to another;
His constant shifting disrupted the class
Shift
(geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other;
They built it right over a geological fault
Shift
A group of workers who work for a specific period of time
Shift
A woman's sleeveless undergarment
Shift
A loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders without a waist
Shift
Make a shift in or exchange of;
First Joe led; then we switched
Shift
Change place or direction;
Shift one's position
Shift
Move around;
Transfer the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket
Shift
Move very slightly;
He shifted in his seat
Shift
Move from one setting or context to another;
Shift the emphasis
Shift one's attention
Shift
Change in quality;
His tone shifted
Shift
Move and exchange for another;
Shift the date for our class reunion
Shift
Move sideways or in an unsteady way;
The ship careened out of control
Shift
Move abruptly;
The ship suddenly lurched to the left
Shift
Use a shift key on a keyboard;
She could not shift so all ther letters are written in lower case
Shift
Change phonetically as part of a systematic historical change;
Grimm showed how the consonants shifted
Shift
Change gears;
You have to shift when you go down a steep hill
Shift
Lay aside, abandon, or leave for another;
Switch to a different brand of beer
She switched psychiatrists
The car changed lanes
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