shifter
noun
Forms shifters
- noun One who, or that which, shifts or changes.
- noun (linguistics) A word whose meaning changes depending on the situation, as by deixis.
- noun (dated) Someone who plays tricks; a trickster.
- noun (nautical) An assistant to the ship's cook in washing, soaking, and shifting the salt provisions.
- noun (engineering) 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.
- noun (engineering, textiles) A wire for changing a loop from one needle to another, as in narrowing, etc.
- noun (cycling) 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.
- noun (especially Australia) A spanner with an adjustable jaw size.
Synonyms
shifting spanner adjustable spanner changeling shape-shifter shapeshifter sceneshifter gearshift gearstick gear lever
Etymology
From shift + -er.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shifter”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details