A shift is a slight change in someone's opinion, a situation, or a policy.

If a group of factory workers, nurses, or other people work shifts, they work for a set period before being replaced by another group, so that there is always a group working. Each of these set periods is called a shift. You can also use shift to refer to a group of workers who work together on a particular shift.

If you shift something or if it shifts, it moves slightly.

If someone's opinion, a situation, or a policy shifts or is shifted, it changes slightly.

If someone shifts the responsibility or blame for something onto you, they unfairly make you responsible or make people blame you for it, instead of them.