shifts 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of shift
1
as in moves
to change the place or position of he shifted the vase closer to the wall so that it wouldn't get knocked over

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in twitches
to change one's position she shifted uncomfortably in her seat throughout the interview

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in changes
to pass from one form, state, or level to another she watched the aurora in fascination as its colors shifted from green to blue

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in swaps
to give up (something) and take something else in return my brother and I shifted seats just before takeoff so that he could sit by the window

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5
as in copes
to meet one's day-to-day needs left the others to shift for themselves

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

shifts

2 of 2

noun

plural of shift
1
as in means
an action planned or taken to achieve a desired result desperate shifts to stave off financial disaster

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2
as in movements
the act or an instance of changing position made a small shift to the left to make more room on the bench

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shifts
Verb
El Niño also shifts rainfall patterns globally, raising the chances for destructive flooding in some parts of the world. — Lauren Sommer, NPR, 5 Oct. 2026 The technology ultimately shifts more of the weapon’s decision-making process onboard. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2026 Rarely anyone shifts the relationship to eventually sit down and ask attendees for their best gift. — Sherry Quam Taylor, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026 The evolution of strategies can lead to stable populations, bistable populations (where the population flips between two stable strategies), or limit cycles, where the population shifts continuously among multiple strategies. — Chris Lee, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2026 Try meeting their needs first and see if their behavior shifts. — Juli Fraga, CNBC, 6 Sep. 2026 Translation is a mutation of language, but not direct replication; something happens in the process that shifts the direction of the ideas. — Literary Hub, 26 Aug. 2026 When its waters warm in just the right places, the jet stream — the fast-moving river of air that steers storms — often shifts its path. — Sarah Moore, USA Today, 6 Aug. 2026 The film joins Totem’s sales slate as the company shifts its primary focus to production. — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 23 July 2026
Noun
Democrat senators oppose the Republican proposal that shifts some SNAP cost to states. — Arkansas Online, 5 Oct. 2026 Golden Goose is evolving into a platform where product shifts into experiences, and stores become collaborative spaces for self-expression. — Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 5 Oct. 2026 Adjust to their method, and the minor shifts in texture or rhythm start to feel epochal. — Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 4 Oct. 2026 But rather than focusing strictly on the men of the Trask and Hamilton families, this adaptation shifts the spotlight to Cathy Ames (played by Florence Pugh, also an executive producer). — Max Gao, Variety, 4 Oct. 2026 By evening, the Moon enters your 7th House and shifts attention toward connection. — Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 4 Oct. 2026 These shifts are good news for Democratic candidates who are hammering an increasingly unpopular president — and by extension, his party. — ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026 The lightweight compression socks are highly recommended by flight attendants, pilots, marathoners, and nurses who spend 12-hour shifts making rounds across hard hospital floors. — Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2026 My gaze shifts to the X-shape steering wheel, which echoes the design motif of the rear fascia and spoiler. — Sean Evans, Robb Report, 26 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shifts
  1. moves
  2. twitches
  3. changes
  4. swaps
  5. copes
  6. means
  7. movements
  8. relocates
Verb
  • Riley was a direct inspiration on the record, and while the Bay Area composer did work with drones, his influence is more poignant here, in the way Schwendener breaks the melody down into pieces and moves them around.
    — Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Bits per second is commonly used in BCI research to quantify how quickly and accurately a user can select intended targets, rather than simply measuring how fast a cursor physically moves.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of moves
Verb
  • Persistent muscle twitches Everyone’s muscles twitch from time to time, usually at various locations.
    — Angela Haupt, Time, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Some devices, for example, track eye movements or other small muscle twitches to let users select words from a screen.
    — Emma R. Hasson, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2025
Definition of twitches
Verb
  • This changes the alignment of the two ferromagnetic layers, which alters how easily electrons can tunnel through the insulating barrier (a quantum phenomenon known as tunnel magnetoresistance) and changes the sensor’s electrical resistance.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Until… One big moment changes everything when a glitch occurs and the model agent solves a problem by lying about it, creating a scenario that is not true.
    — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of changes
Verb
  • This version swaps the Snapdragon for Intel's Wildcat Lake chips.
    — Jon Martindale, PC Magazine, 1 Oct. 2026
  • The Pillow Brooklyn Shoulder Bag 34, another September arrival, swaps out its prototype’s magnetic closure with a zipper.
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of swaps
Verb
  • An event can cause great pain to one person while another copes with it much better.
    — Roberto Prieto, Variety, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Hollis buries herself in work in an attempt to escape her complicated grief, while aspiring filmmaker Caroline copes by making snarky remarks and bristling at her mom's efforts to connect.
    — Clarissa Cruz, Entertainment Weekly, 16 June 2026
Definition of copes
Noun
  • Certifying a council as fair means comparing it against every possible group of voters and every slate of candidates that group can claim.
    — Lyndie Chiou, Scientific American, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Then, the court could determine whether the person has the means to pay, Looney said.
    — Ginny Monk, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of means
Noun
  • Troop movements over the past couple of weeks indicate the group is concentrating on seizing the southwestern highlands, which could then open the way for a push toward the government’s capital, Aden.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The bombers were redeployed back to their home bases in the United States, AP reported, citing a Pentagon official who was not authorized to discuss sensitive military movements and spoke on condition of anonymity.
    — Azhar Sukri,Terri Cullen, CNBC, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of movements
Verb
  • But Resurrection is a return to form, as our genial serial killer relocates to New York after his now-adult son starts his own murder spree.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Verity follows renowned author Verity Crawford (Hathaway) and Lowen Ashleigh (Johnson), a struggling writer who relocates to the remote Crawford estate to ghostwrite for Verity.
    — Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of relocates

Browse Nearby Words

shiftlessness
shifts
shifty
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Cite this Entry

“Shifts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shifts. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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