shifting
part of speech
verb, -ing form of shift (shift, shifts, shifted, shifting); adjective (shifting sands)
meaning for a pupil
1) Moving or changing position: shifting sand dunes. tree →
2) Changing: shifting opinions. tree →
3) (UK, informal) Moving something, often hard work: shifting furniture. tree →
4) Changing gear in a car. tree →
sense in the lessons
In geography, shifting sands and plates of the Earth. In stories, shifting shadows create mystery. Phrases: shifting sands, shifting position, shape-shifting.
examples
- The sand dunes are always shifting in the wind. tree →
- He kept shifting in his chair. tree →
- Shifting the heavy sofa took four of us. tree →
- Shifting shadows danced on the wall. tree →
- The wind is shifting to the north. tree →
- In the story, the wizard was a shape-shifting fox. tree →
- Now in one form and now in another, he glides a shifting shape, of which it is difficult to obtain a satisfactory view. tree →
note
Shift is a regular verb. Noun: a shift (also a period of work: night shift). Shifty means looking dishonest.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «shifting» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.