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What is a shifter?

What is a shifter? Here are some definitions.

Noun
  1. One who, or that which, shifts or changes.
  2. (linguistics) A word whose meaning changes depending on the situation, as by deixis.
  3. (dated) One who plays tricks or practices artifice; a cozener.
  4. (nautical) An assistant to the ship's cook in washing, steeping, and shifting the salt provisions.
  5. (engineering) An arrangement for shifting a belt sidewise from one pulley to another.
  6. (engineering, textiles) A wire for changing a loop from one needle to another, as in narrowing, etc.
  7. (cycling) A 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. A spanner with an adjustable jaw size.
  9. (mining, historical) A person employed to repair the horseways and other passages, and keep them unobstructed.
  10. (US, Pennsylvania) A switcher or shunter: a railroad locomotive used for shunting.
  11. (mythology, science fiction, fantasy) A shape-shifter, or a person or other being capable of changing their physical form.
  12. (erotica) A genre of erotica focusing on lycanthropes or other shapeshifters, such as werewolves.
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