# shifter

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #28,362

## Definitions
1. One who, or that which, shifts or changes.
2. A word whose meaning changes depending on the situation, as by deixis.
3. Someone who plays tricks; a trickster.
4. An assistant to the ship's cook in washing, soaking, and shifting the salt provisions.
5. 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.
6. A wire for changing a loop from one needle to another, as in narrowing, etc.
7. 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.
8. A spanner with an adjustable jaw size.
9. A person employed to repair the horseways and other passages, and keep them unobstructed.
10. A switcher or shunter: a railroad locomotive used for shunting.
11. A shape-shifter; a person or other being capable of changing their physical form, especially a lycanthrope.
12. A shiftworker.
13. Ellipsis of reality shifter.

## Etymology
From shift + -er.

## Easily confused with
- **shite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-shite)
- **sister** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-sister)
- **sitter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-sitter)
- **shiver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-shiver)
- **Shiite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-shiite)
- **shifty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-shifty)
- **shiner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-shiner)
- **sifted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-sifted)
- **shorter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-shorter)
- **shooter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-shooter)
- **shutter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-shutter)
- **shipper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-shipper)
- **shimmer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-shimmer)
- **stiffer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-stiffer)
- **sniffer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shifter-vs-sniffer)
- **shift** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shift-vs-shifter)
- **shelter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelter-vs-shifter)
- **shatter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shatter-vs-shifter)
- **Shaffer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaffer-vs-shifter)

## Common misspellings (11)
`hsifter`, `shfiter`, `shhifter`, `shifetr`, `shiffter`, `shifterr`, `shiftre`, `shiftter`, `shitfer`, `sihfter`, `sshifter`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shifter