chiefly N. Amer. <主北美>
no obj.
1- change to a lower gear in a motor vehicle or bicycle（汽车或自行车）调低速挡。
1.1
- slow down; slacken off减速, 放慢, 减缓：
well before the country slipped into recession, business was downshifting.
早在陷入经济衰退前, 该国的商业就已开始疲软。
1.2
- change a financially rewarding but stressful career or lifestyle for a less pressured and less highly paid but more fulfilling one下调职业档次（指将压力大、收入高的工作或生活方式改为压力较小、收入较低、但个人更满意的工作或生活方式）：
increasing numbers of men want to downshift from full-time work.
越来越多的男子想从全日制工作岗位上调下来。
1
- a change to a lower gear in a motor vehicle or bicycle（汽车, 自行车）速挡的调低。
1.1
- a change in quality or quantity to a lesser or lower degree（质量的）下降; （数量的）减少：
the downshift of human position from the centre of the cosmos.
人类的宇宙中心地位的下降。
1.2
- an instance of changing a financially rewarding but stressful career or lifestyle for a less pressured and less highly paid but more fulfilling one职业档次的下调。