shifter

plural shifters

1. One who, or that which, shifts or changes.
2. human sciencesA word whose meaning changes depending on the situation, as by deixis.

   1 more example

   The cigarette is analogous to what linguists call a shifter, like the word I ; this device for expressing the irreducible particularity of my innermost self is universally available to every speaker and is thus the least particular thing in the world. The smoker manipulates the cigarette, like the word I, to tell stories to him/herself about him/herself — or to an other.

   1995, Richard Klein, “Introduction”, in Cigarettes are sublime, Paperback edition, Durham: Duke University Press, published 1993, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 9

3. datedSomeone who plays tricks; a trickster.

   'Twas ſuch a ſhifter, that if truth were known, / Death was half glad when he had got him down;

   1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, “On the Univerſity Carrier […] ”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], →OCLC, page 28

4. nauticalAn assistant to the ship's cook in washing, soaking, and shifting the salt provisions.
5. engineeringA 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. businessA wire for changing a loop from one needle to another, as in narrowing, etc.
7. cyclingA 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. AustraliaespeciallyA spanner with an adjustable jaw size.

   Synonyms: shifting spanner, adjustable spanner

9. historicalbusinessA person employed to repair the horseways and other passages, and keep them unobstructed.
10. PennsylvaniaUSA switcher or shunter: a railroad locomotive used for shunting.
11. fantasyA shape-shifter; a person or other being capable of changing their physical form, especially a lycanthrope.

    Synonyms: changeling, shape-shifter, shapeshifter

12. A shiftworker.
13. abbreviationellipsisspiritualityEllipsis of reality shifter.