downshift
/ˈdaʊnˌʃɪft/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.97 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A change in career or lifestyle to one which is not as well paid but less stressful and more personally rewarding.
Canadian usage; American usage
noun
A shift of a transmission into a lower gear, as dictated by heavier load on the engine, as for example when climbing a hill or strongly accelerating.
Canadian usage; American usage
verb
To reduce (something) in quality or quantity (as effect, scope, speed, etc.)
Canadian usage; American usage; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "The driver, Lindsay, gave me a regal wave at the top after he had completed a series of perfect downshifts[.]"
- "But in this variation on Superbad's wild night of transgression, downshifting the age of the protagonists from teen to tween actually only enhances the stealth, wide-eyed innocence that secretly drives this genre of pre-college hedonism."
- "He brought the car to a stop before the bridge, downshifted and then put her at the road again in a rising disciplined snarl along the N.6 to Cannes."
- "In a stick-shift vehicle, the driver must downshift when necessary; in an automatic, the transmission downshifts as needed."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdaʊnˌʃɪft/
- British English: /ˈdaʊnʃɪft/
Usage
- Canadian usage
- American usage
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb