stick shift
5
4.0
- noun
- /stɪk ʃɪft/
- US
:
caja de cambios manual
- Never driven a stick shift.
- drive a stick shift
- stick shift car
Like a small, tossable light car with a stick shift.
- Like a small, tossable light car with a stick shift.
- If you think about what happens when you're driving a stick shift car, you put your foot on the gas in first gear and the car just goes.
- OK, If you're grilling with charcoal, it's more like driving a stick shift.
- You have to drive a stick shift when you're trying to get somewhere that you're not naturally gifted at.
Examples
-
She has also had to work out how to live and function with her impairment—including learning how to drive a car with a stick shift.
Blog text (3) -
It's a good thing I'd practiced driving a stick shift with you before I left New York.
Fiction book (2002) -
This car is a stick shift.
-
Today Ian is going to teach me how to drive a stick shift car.
-
I regret buying a car with a stick shift.
Blog text (8) -
These stick shifts can be a little tricky.
-
I can't drive a stick shift car.
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That particular car did have a handbrake as well as being a stick shift.
Blog text (6) -
Learning to drive a stick-shift car was difficult, requiring the coordination of clutch and gearshift, and it was tricky getting started on a steep hill after stopping for a red light.
Academic text (2000) -
Today Ian is going to teach me how to drive a stick shift car.
Synonyms
1
4.1
A way of changing gears in a car by using a gear lever and a clutch pedal
1
9.9
A manual gearbox with three speeds and the gear stick on the steering column
Antonyms
- Specialized
7
3.7
A car system that changes gears by itself so the driver does not have to shift them
How Manual
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly built from 'stick' (a rod) and 'shift' (to change gears), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to shifting gears using a stick — i.e., a manual transmission. This is a straightforward compositional pattern (tool + action) and therefore readily comprehensible without prior exposure.
Etymology
Stick shift comes from the long gear lever called the stick and the action shift, which means 'to change gears'. So a stick shift is a car you must change gears by hand instead of an 'automatic'.