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Glite Dictionary
🚗 To change gear 🚗 A gear change ⬆️ To move up
to upshift

to upshift

1 4.6
To change to a higher gear in a vehicle to go faster or use less fuel
  • verb
  • /ˈʌpʃɪft/
translation icon : cambiar a una marcha superior
  • Transmission seems to be upshifting at very high revs.
  • upshift smoothly
  • automatic upshift

That's the red line beep telling me, hey, you better upshift.

Examples

  • You're still upshifting early.

    Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

  • I usually upshift 2 or 3 cogs when I stand up; it is definitely easier to pedal more slowly when standing, to a point.

    Blog text (16)

  • Re: Transmission seems to be upshifting at very high revs.

    Blog text (26)

  • She upshifted on the straightaways and began to gun it around the turns.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Usually just backing off on the gas pedal... ...causes it to upshift if the automatic linkage doesn't.

    A Scanner Darkly (2006)

  • When driving a manual car, it's important to upshift at the right RPM to maintain efficiency.

  • The driver decided to upshift after reaching a speed of 60 miles per hour for better acceleration.

  • To increase speed on the highway, he knew he had to upshift into a higher gear.

Synonyms

to speed up
vsto upshift
161 2.5

To make something move or happen faster

raises speed by changing into a higher gear rather than other ways
to shift
vsto upshift
39 2.3

Change gear in a vehicle, usually while driving

specifies changing into a higher gear to gain speed or efficiency
to shift gears
vsto upshift
10 3.9

To change what you are doing to fit a new situation

is a literal vehicle gear change used to increase speed or efficiency

Antonyms

to downshift
3 3.9

To change to a lower gear in a car or bike to get more power

Surface Forms

upshift infinitive
upshifted past
upshifted past participle
upshifting present participle
upshifts third person singular

Morphology

upshift = shift (transparent) = up + shift

The meaning is directly derived from the base word 'shift' with the prefix 'up', indicating an upward or higher movement.

Etymology

Upshift comes from the words up ('higher') and shift ('move' or 'change'), which gives a clear picture of moving a gear to a higher position. So, to upshift a car is to change into a higher gear to go faster or save fuel.