| consonant shift |
a historical change or linked series of changes in the sound of consonants in a language or language family. |
| functional shift |
a temporary or permanent change in the grammatical function of a word, such as the use of the noun "fax" as a verb in "We'll fax it to you". |
| graveyard shift |
(informal) a work shift that extends through the early morning hours, often beginning at midnight. [2 definitions] |
| Great Vowel Shift |
a series of shifts in English vowel sounds that took place from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century and changed the vowel system of Middle English into that of Modern English. |
| red shift |
the tendency of light waves from distant luminous bodies such as galaxies to decrease in frequency with movement away from the observer. (See Doppler effect.) |
| split shift |
a work shift with two or more work periods divided by longer-than-usual breaks. |
| stick shift |
a manually operated automobile gearshift; manual transmission. |
| swing shift |
(informal) the work shift between the day and the night shifts, usu. beginning in the middle of the afternoon and ending at midnight, or the group of workers on this shift. |