| 释义 |
shifter|ˈʃɪftə(r)|
[f. shift v. + -er1.]
1. One who shifts something (in any sense of the vb.); spec. a scene-shifter.
1571Act 13 Eliz. c. 8 §4 All..other Doynges whatsoever for Gayne..whereuppon is not reserved.. to the Lender Contracter Shyfter Forbearer or Deliverer above the Summe of Tenne Poundes for the Loane or Forbearinge of a Hundred Poundes for one yere. 1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. ii. iii, He is no great shifter; once a yeare his Apparel is ready to reuolt. 1680Reflections on late Libel on Curse-ye-Meroz 28 The Author had (in all probability) been Lecturer there at this day, (for he is no Starter, nor Shifter, nor Swapper of Livings). 1711Addison Spect. No. 42 ⁋3 Two or three shifters of scenes, with the two candle-snuffers, make up a compleat body of Guards upon the English stage. 1761Churchill Rosciad 206 Then came drum, trumpet, hautboy, fiddle, flute, Next, snuffer, sweeper, shifter, soldier, mute. 1887Pall Mall Gaz. 26 Oct. 6/1 The cords..by which the scenes were raised and lowered were so crossed and entangled that the shifters could not find those belonging to [etc.].
†2. shifter away: one who eludes, or sets aside.
1555Ridley in Foxe A. & M. (1583) 1451/1 This is a greuous contumely, that you call me a shifter away of the Scriptures, and of the Doctours.
†3.
a. One who resorts to petty shifts or tricks, or who practises artifice; an idle, thriftless fellow; a trickster, cozener, etc. Also with for. Obs.
c1562E. Underhill in Narr. Reform. (Camden) 158 Another spitefull enemy att Stepeney, callede Banbery, a shifter, a dycer, a hore-hunter. 1561J. Awdelay Frat. Vacab. (1869) 3 The company of Cousoners and Shifters. 1584G. Whetstone Mirr. Mag. Cities 26 These expert Shifters, by falce Dice, slipperie castynge, or some other nice Sleight:..wyll make their Purses as emptie of Money, as the Catte the Mouses headde of Braynes. 1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. iv. 40 The great abuse by som shifters, who go vnder the name of Scriueners. 1670Milton Hist. Brit. iii. 130 In worldly matters, practis'd and cunning Shifters.
punningly. (Cf.1.)1619Fletcher Bloody Bro. iv. ii, They have so little [clothes] As well may free them from the name of shifters.
b. One who uses evasive reasoning.
1567–9Jewel Def. Apol. ii. v. (1611) 141 It were hard to say, that Christ, his Apostles, the Prophets and holy Fathers were shifters, and Heretikes. 1648W. Jenkyn Blind Guide iii. 36 Poore shifter!..it seemes the novice hath..driven you to another shift. 1899Westm. Gaz. 23 Dec. 3/2 Shiftings and wrigglings which have made the shifters and wrigglers contemptible in the eyes of all sensible people.
†4. Naut. (See quots.) Obs.
1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Shifters, certain Men aboard a Man of War who are employed by the Cooks to shift or change the Water in which the Flesh or Fish is put and laid for some time, in order to fit it for the Kettle. 1750T. R. Blanckley Nav. Expositor. 1751Smollett Per. Pic. ii, I have..served all offices on board from cook's shifter to the command of a vessel. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Shifter, a person appointed to assist the ship's cook, particularly in..steeping, and shifting the salt provisions.
5. Mining. (See quots. 1894, 1906.)
1830T. Wilson Pitman's Pay (1843) 57 Aw gat at furst a shifter's place, And then a deputy was myed. 1880Leeds Mercury 16 Sept. 8 William Hartley, a master shifter said that he worked in No. 2 Hutton or Harvey seam. 1894Northumbld. Gloss., Shifter, Shift-man, a man who prepares the working places at night in a colliery for the men who come in at next shift... Shifters work by the day or shift, as distinct from hewers, who work by the ton or yard. 1906Daily News 17 Oct. 7/1 A shifter..is a man whose chief duties are to keep the tunnels clear of falls of coal, and to shore up unsafe places.
6. Mech.
a. A contrivance used for shifting. In many applications, e.g. a kind of clutch serving to transfer a belt from one pulley to another; also (see quot. 1875).
1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. I 5, This shaft actuates a vertical rock shaft,..imparting the required motion to the belt shifter on the top of the machine. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Shifter (knitting-machine), one of the beardless needles..which..operate to disengage the outer loops of the course and put them on the next inner or the next outer needles for narrowing or widening.
b. The gear-change mechanism or control in a motor vehicle. Freq. attrib. N. Amer.
1910J. E. Homans Self-Propelled Vehicles (ed. 7) xxix. 378 The arm of the sliding gear shifter meets a raised portion of the reverse shaft. 1915Hobbs & Elliott Gasoline Automobile iii. 67 These two sets [of sliding gears] are operated by two shifter yokes which lead to the gear control lever in the car. 1920V. W. Pagé Model T Ford Car (new ed.) vii. 341 To stop the motor close the throttle and turn shifter to the horizontal position. 1946W. H. Crouse Automotive Mech. xvii. 390 A close-up view of the gear selector and shifter rods. 1972G. V. Higgins Friends of Eddie Coyle xiii. 78 ‘How come you got the automatic?.. I'd want the Hurst shifter in it.’ ‘You wouldn't want it once you started buying clutches for it.’
Add:7. Linguistics. A word whose referent can only be understood from its context.
1922O. Jespersen Language vi. 123 A class of words which presents grave difficulty to children are those whose meaning differs according to the situation [e.g. father, home]... Such words may be called shifters. 1962U. Weinreich in Householder & Saporta Probl. in Lexicogr. 38 Another dichotomy is that between symbols and indexes (deictic elements, ‘shifters’, ‘egocentric particulars’). 1977A. Sheridan tr. J. Lacan's Écrits vi. 182 The I, as subject of the sentence in direct style, left in suspense, in accordance with its function as a ‘shifter’, as it is called in linguistics,..itself remained in a state of oscillation. 1980D. Donoghue in Michaels & Ricks State of Language 548 Linguists since Jesperson call such words shifters, words understood only in their contexts; such words as I, you, now, here, tomorrow. |
