Etymology

The noun is derived from down (preposition) +‎ shift (“slight change or movement”)Category:English compound terms#DOWNSHIFT.^[1] The verb is derived from the noun.^[2]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊnʃɪft/Category:English 2-syllable words#DOWNSHIFTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#DOWNSHIFT

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#DOWNSHIFT
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊnˌʃɪft/Category:English 2-syllable words#DOWNSHIFTCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#DOWNSHIFT
• Hyphenation: down‧shift

Noun

downshift (plural downshifts)Category:English lemmas#DOWNSHIFTCategory:English nouns#DOWNSHIFTCategory:English countable nouns#DOWNSHIFTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#DOWNSHIFTCategory:Pages with entries#DOWNSHIFTCategory:Pages with 1 entry#DOWNSHIFT (chiefly CanadaCategory:Canadian English#DOWNSHIFT, USCategory:American English#DOWNSHIFT)

1. A change of direction or a movement downwards.
2. A reduction in quality or quantity.
3. A change in career or lifestyle to one which is not as well paid but less stressful and more personally rewarding.
4. (automotiveCategory:en:Automotive#DOWNSHIFT, cyclingCategory:en:Cycling#DOWNSHIFT) 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.

   Antonym: upshiftCategory:English links with manual fragments#DOWNSHIFT

   Hypernym: gear changeCategory:English links with manual fragments#DOWNSHIFT

   Hyponym: kickdownCategory:English links with manual fragments#DOWNSHIFT

   • 2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 197:

     The driver, Lindsay, gave me a regal wave at the top after he had completed a series of perfect downshifts[.]

     Category:English terms with quotations#DOWNSHIFT

Verb

downshift (third-person singular simple present downshifts, present participle downshifting, simple past and past participle downshifted)Category:English lemmas#DOWNSHIFTCategory:English verbs#DOWNSHIFTCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#DOWNSHIFTCategory:Pages with entries#DOWNSHIFTCategory:Pages with 1 entry#DOWNSHIFT (chiefly CanadaCategory:Canadian English#DOWNSHIFT, USCategory:American English#DOWNSHIFT)

1. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#DOWNSHIFT)
   1. To reduce (something) in quality or quantity (as effect, scope, speed, etc.)

      Synonym: attenuate

      • 2019 August 14, A. A. Dowd, “Good Boys Puts a Tween Spin on the R-rated Teen Comedy, to Mostly Funny Effect”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 4 March 2021:

        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.

        Category:English terms with quotations#DOWNSHIFT

   2. To change (one's career or lifestyle) to one which is not as well paid but less stressful and more personally rewarding.
   3. (automotiveCategory:en:Automotive#DOWNSHIFT, cyclingCategory:en:Cycling#DOWNSHIFT) To shift (a car or bicycle) into a lower gear.

      Antonym: upshiftCategory:English links with manual fragments#DOWNSHIFT

      Hypernym: shift gearsCategory:English links with manual fragments#DOWNSHIFT

      • a. 1962, Ernest Hemingway, chapter 27, in The Garden of Eden, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1986, →ISBN, page 229:

        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.

        Category:English terms with quotations#DOWNSHIFT

2. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#DOWNSHIFT)
   1. To function at a lower rate; to slacken.
   2. To change one's career or lifestyle to one which is not as well paid but less stressful and more personally rewarding.
   3. (automotiveCategory:en:Automotive#DOWNSHIFT, cyclingCategory:en:Cycling#DOWNSHIFT) To shift a transmission into a lower gear.

      Antonym: upshift

      In a stick-shift vehicle, the driver must downshift when necessary; in an automatic, the transmission downshifts as needed.Category:English terms with usage examples#DOWNSHIFT

References

Further reading

• downshifting (lifestyle) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• manual transmission on Wikipedia.Wikipedia