undershift

English

Etymology

under- +‎ shift

Pronunciation

• (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈʌndə(ɹ)ˌʃɪft/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (verb) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndə(ɹ)ˈʃɪft/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

undershift (plural undershifts)

1. An unfitted undergarment that covers the torso.
   • 1985, Isaac C. Cruz, General Gregorio H. Del Pilar: Idol of the Revolution, page 137:

     The statement of Abeng and Tucdaden that when they buried the cadaver, this only had on an undershift and drawers (camiseta-calsoncillo), without uniform, nor boots, nor cap, nor other pieces of adornment, which is duly confirmed by the testimonies of the other witnesses and by the reports of the war correspondents who where present in the battle.

   • 2006, M. A. Foster, The Book of The Ler, →ISBN:

     She took the candle from him and placed it upon the desk, moving with measured grace, as a young girl might before her lover, a flowing, dancing motional set, allowing the undershift to swirl about her, and standing afterward so that the light from the candle would shine through the undershift, suggesting much and revealing nothing.

   • 2011, Sheri S. Tepper, The Waters Rising, →ISBN:

     She would make a tiny pocket in an undershift. Even boys wore undershifts, though theirs were shorter than the knee-length ones girls wore.

   • 2014, Marion Meade, Stealing Heaven: The Love Story of Heloise and Abelard, →ISBN:

     There was Sister Marie, who had cried for her lord father, and Sister Custance, who had forgotten to wear an undershift and was sent back to the dormitory to dress properly.

2. (sports) The strategy or act of positioning defensive players extra far toward the offense's weak side.
   • 1955, Robert C. MacKenzie, Football Scouting, page 54:

     Do they employ an undershift? Overshift? If they do undershift or overshift the line, is it a half-man or full-man over- shift or undershift?

   • 1976, Jack T. Clary, The Gamemakers, page 185:

     "Everyone who plays four linemen ends up in an overshift or undershift," says Phillips, "and that makes the same alignment we're playing to start with.

   • 1949, Herbert Orin Crisler, Modern football: fundamentals and strategy, page 193:

     In an overshift or undershift the spacing of the linemen should be over one "full man" from the normal.

3. (mineralogy) The amount of displacement in the layers in a crystal lattice that places the layers too close together.
   • 1983, Leslie Michaels, Seymour S. Chissick, R. Derricott, Asbestos, properties, applications, and hazards, →ISBN, page 114:

     The protruding basal oxygens are themselves displaced slightly in the x-direction so that the shift required is either 0.4 + δÅ (overshift) or 0.4 -δ Å (undershift).

   • 1988, Sturges W. Bailey, Reviews in Mineralogy - Volume 19, page 105:

     In the structure of chrysotile 2M_c1 illustrated in Figure 7.6 is approximately 0.1 Å, and so overshift is 0.5 Å and the undershift is 0.3 Å, occurring in successive layers to produce a two-layer unit cell with B = 93.3°.

4. (mechanical engineering) A misalignment resulting from failure to shift gears far enough.
   • 1981, H Ross, Single lever 10-speed bicycle shifter - US Patent 4,279,174:

     Briefly, in the invention, the shift mechanism is incorporated into the handlebar stem, a positive push-pull type cam mechanism is provided for actuating the rear derailleur, undershift and overshift is prevented to eliminate chain "jump off", and the device can be shifted with the bicycle standing still.

5. A change that results in something being not being moved far enough or too few things being moved.
6. (geology) An underhang caused by seismic shift.
   • 1964, Bhabesh Chandra Roy, Report of the twenty-second session, India, 1964:

     The forming of shifts and undershifts is activated by frequent quakes.

Verb

undershift (third-person singular simple present undershifts, present participle undershifting, simple past and past participle undershifted)

1. (sports) To position defensive players too far in a particular direction.
   • 1930, Edward Dana Caulkins, Intimate Talks with Great Coaches, page 57:

     If they are in doubt just where they should go, they should always overshift rather than undershift.

   • 1955, Robert C. MacKenzie, Football Scouting, page 54:

     Do they employ an undershift? Overshift? If they do undershift or overshift the line, is it a half-man or full-man over- shift or undershift?

   • 1962, David M. Nelson, Football; Principles and Play, page 39:

     In addition, overshifting to one side and undershifting to the other may be used as a defensive plan to meet personnel or field problems.

2. (mechanical engineering) To undershoot when changing gears.
   • 1990, Norman D. Ford, Keep on pedaling: the complete guide to adult bicycling, page 194:

     Since it is easy to undershift or overshift, each lever must be adjusted manually to its optimal position on the cog or chainring.

3. To move too small an amount or not to move something far enough.
   • 1998, State of California Property Tax Apportionments Calendar Year 1997:

     The use of the incorrect factor resulted in an undershift to ERAF.

4. (economics) To raise the price to consumers by less than an underlying cost increase that results from rising taxes.
   • 1995, Gareth D. Myles, Public Economics, →ISBN, page 363:

     Concavity of demand leads to undershifting and sufficient convexity to overshifting.

   • 2003, Public Relations Review: A Journal of Research and Comment:

     However, according to Kay and Keen (1991), neither undershifting of both taxes, nor overshifting of both, is a plausible scenario under the quality model.

   • 2007, Patrick W. Barnes, Economic Perspectives on Innovation and Invention, →ISBN, page 34:

     Whether this indirect effect causes an overshifting or undershifting of price depends upon the level of spillovers.

   • 2007, Essays on Taxation, →ISBN, page 59:

     With a linear demand curve, 0 η =, the monopolist always undershifts the tax, as shown in the first part of Figure 3.2.