shifter

WORDNET DICTIONARY

shifter(n = noun.person) sceneshifter - a stagehand responsible for moving scenery;

is a kind of stage technician, stagehand

shifter(n = noun.artifact) gear lever, gearshift, gearstick - a mechanical device for engaging and disengaging gears; "in Britain they call a gearshift a gear lever"

is a kind of mechanical device

is a part of automotive vehicle, motor vehicle

Derived form verb shift₁₂

shifter, n.

One who, or that which, shifts; one who plays tricks or practices artifice; a cozener. [1913 Webster]
"'T was such a shifter that, if truth were known,
Death was half glad when he had got him down." [1913 Webster]
An assistant to the ship's cook in washing, steeping, and shifting the salt provisions. [1913 Webster]
An arrangement for shifting a belt sidewise from one pulley to another. [1913 Webster]
A foreman responsible for the work on one shift in one area, as in one heading{4}. [RH]