Adjacent Words

Drift definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DRIFT, n.
1. That which is driven by wind or water, as drift seems to be primarily a participle. Hence,
2. A heap of any matter driven together; as a drift of snow, called also a snow-drift; a drift of sand.
3. A driving; a force impelling or urging forward; impulse; overbearing power or influence; as the drift of a passion.
4. Course of any thing; tendency; aim; main force; as the drift of reasoning or argument; the drift of a discourse.
5. Any thing driven by force, as a drift of dust; a log or a raft driven by a stream of water, without guidance.
6. A shower; a number of things driven at once; as a drift of bullets.
7. In mining, a passage cut between shaft and shaft; a passage within the earth.
8. In navigation, the angle which the line of a ships motion makes with the nearest meridian, when she drives with her side to the wind and waves, and is not governed by the helm. Also, the distance which the ship drives on that line.
9. The drift of a current, is its angle and velocity.
DRIFT, v.i.
1. To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts.
2. To float or be driven along by a current of water; as, the ship drifted astern; a raft drifted ashore.
DRIFT, v.t. To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a force that moves something along [syn: drift, impetus, impulsion]
2: the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane)
3: a process of linguistic change over a period of time
4: a large mass of material that is heaped up by the wind or by water currents
5: a general tendency to change (as of opinion); "not openly liberal but that is the trend of the book"; "a broad movement of the electorate to the right" [syn: drift, trend, movement]
6: the pervading meaning or tenor; "caught the general drift of the conversation" [syn: drift, purport]
7: a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine; "they dug a drift parallel with the vein" [syn: drift, heading, gallery] v
1: be in motion due to some air or water current; "The leaves were blowing in the wind"; "the boat drifted on the lake"; "The sailboat was adrift on the open sea"; "the shipwrecked boat drifted away from the shore" [syn: float, drift, be adrift, blow]
2: wander from a direct course or at random; "The child strayed from the path and her parents lost sight of her"; "don't drift from the set course" [syn: stray, err, drift]
3: move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment; "The gypsies roamed the woods"; "roving vagabonds"; "the wandering Jew"; "The cattle roam across the prairie"; "the laborers drift from one town to the next"; "They rolled from town to town" [syn: roll, wander, swan, stray, tramp, roam, cast, ramble, rove, range, drift, vagabond]
4: vary or move from a fixed point or course; "stock prices are drifting higher"
5: live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely; "My son drifted around for years in California before going to law school" [syn: freewheel, drift]
6: move in an unhurried fashion; "The unknown young man drifted among the invited guests"
7: cause to be carried by a current; "drift the boats downstream"
8: drive slowly and far afield for grazing; "drift the cattle herds westwards"
9: be subject to fluctuation; "The stock market drifted upward"
10: be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a current; "snow drifting several feet high"; "sand drifting like snow"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English; akin to Old English dr?fan to drive — more at drive Date: 14th century 1. a. the act of driving something along b. the flow or the velocity of the current of a river or ocean stream 2. something driven, propelled, or urged along or drawn together in a clump by or as if by a natural agency: as a. wind-driven snow, rain, cloud, dust, or smoke usually at or near the ground surface b. (1) a mass of matter (as sand) deposited together by or as if by wind or water (2) a helter-skelter accumulation c. drove, flock d. something (as driftwood) washed ashore e. rock debris deposited by natural agents; specifically a deposit of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders transported by a glacier or by running water from a glacier 3. a. a general underlying design or tendency <perceiving the drift of the government's policies> b. the underlying meaning, import, or purport of what is spoken or written <the drift of a conversation> 4. something (as a tool) driven down upon or forced into a body 5. the motion or action of drifting especially spatially and usually under external influence: as a. the lateral motion of an aircraft due to air currents b. an easy moderate more or less steady flow or sweep along a spatial course c. a gradual shift in attitude, opinion, or position d. an aimless course; especially a foregoing of any attempt at direction or control e. a deviation from a true reproduction, representation, or reading; especially a gradual change in the zero reading of an instrument or in any quantitative characteristic that is supposed to remain constant 6. a. a nearly horizontal mine passageway driven on or parallel to the course of a vein or rock stratum b. a small crosscut in a mine connecting two larger tunnels 7. a. an assumed trend toward a general change in the structure of a language over a period of time b. genetic drift 8. a mass of planted flowers Synonyms: see tendency • drifty adjective II. verb Date: circa 1600 intransitive verb 1. a. to become driven or carried along (as by a current of water, wind, or air) <a balloon drifting in the wind> b. to move or float smoothly and effortlessly 2. a. to move along a line of least resistance b. to move in a random or casual way c. to become carried along subject to no guidance or control <the talk drifted from topic to topic> 3. a. to accumulate in a mass or become piled up in heaps by wind or water <drifting snow> b. to become covered with a drift 4. to vary or deviate from a set course or adjustment transitive verb 1. a. to cause to be driven in a current b. West to drive (livestock) slowly especially to allow grazing 2. a. to pile in heaps b. to cover with drifts • driftingly adverb

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) In ballistics, a shift in projectile direction due to gyroscopic action which results from gravitational and atmospherically induced torques on the spinning projectile.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a slow movement or variation. b such movement caused by a slow current. 2 the intention, meaning, scope, etc. of what is said etc. (didn't understand his drift). 3 a large mass of snow, sand, etc., accumulated by the wind. 4 esp. derog. a state of inaction. 5 a Naut. a ship's deviation from its course, due to currents. b Aeron. an aircraft's deviation due to side winds. c a projectile's deviation due to its rotation. d a controlled slide of a racing car etc. 6 Mining a horizontal passage following a mineral vein. 7 a large mass of esp. flowering plants (a drift of bluebells). 8 Geol. a material deposited by the wind, a current of water, etc. b (Drift) Pleistocene ice detritus, e.g. boulder clay. 9 the movement of cattle, esp. a gathering on an appointed day to determine ownership etc. 10 a tool for enlarging or shaping a hole in metal. 11 S.Afr. a ford. --v. 1 intr. be carried by or as if by a current of air or water. 2 intr. move or progress passively, casually, or aimlessly (drifted into teaching). 3 a tr. & intr. pile or be piled by the wind into drifts. b tr. cover (a field, a road, etc.) with drifts. 4 tr. form or enlarge (a hole) with a drift. 5 tr. (of a current) carry. Phrases and idioms: drift-ice ice driven or deposited by water. drift-net a large net for herrings etc., allowed to drift with the tide. Derivatives: driftage n. Etymology: ME f. ON & MDu., MHG trift movement of cattle: rel. to DRIVE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Adit Ad"it, n. [L. aditus, fr. adire, ?aitum, to go to; ad + ire to go.] 1. An entrance or passage. Specifically: The nearly horizontal opening by which a mine is entered, or by which water and ores are carried away; -- called also drift and tunnel. 2. Admission; approach; access. [R.] Yourself and yours shall have Free adit. --Tennyson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Drift Drift, n. 1. (Phys. Geog.) One of the slower movements of oceanic circulation; a general tendency of the water, subject to occasional or frequent diversion or reversal by the wind; as, the easterly drift of the North Pacific. 2. (A["e]ronautics) The horizontal component of the pressure of the air on the sustaining surfaces of a flying machine. The lift is the corresponding vertical component, which sustains the machine in the air.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Drift Drift, v. t. 1. To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body. --J. H. Newman. 2. To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand. 3. (Mach.) To enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Drift Drift, a. That causes drifting or that is drifted; movable by wind or currents; as, drift currents; drift ice; drift mud. --Kane. Drift anchor. See Sea anchor, and also Drag sail, under Drag, n. Drift epoch (Geol.), the glacial epoch. Drift net, a kind of fishing net. Drift sail. Same as Drag sail. See under Drag, n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Drift Drift, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Drifted; p. pr. & vb. n. Drifting.] 1. To float or be driven along by, or as by, a current of water or air; as, the ship drifted astern; a raft drifted ashore; the balloon drifts slowly east. We drifted o'er the harbor bar. -- Coleridge. 2. To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts. 3. (mining) to make a drift; to examine a vein or ledge for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of metals or ores; to follow a vein; to prospect. [U.S.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Drift Drift, n. [From drive; akin to LG. & D. drift a driving, Icel. drift snowdrift, Dan. drift, impulse, drove, herd, pasture, common, G. trift pasturage, drove. See Drive.] 1. A driving; a violent movement. The dragon drew him [self] away with drift of his wings. --King Alisaunder (1332). 2. The act or motion of drifting; the force which impels or drives; an overpowering influence or impulse. A bad man, being under the drift of any passion, will follow the impulse of it till something interpose. --South. 3. Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting. ``Our drift was south.'' --Hakluyt. 4. The tendency of an act, argument, course of conduct, or the like; object aimed at or intended; intention; hence, also, import or meaning of a sentence or discourse; aim. He has made the drift of the whole poem a compliment on his country in general. -- Addison. Now thou knowest my drift. --Sir W. Scott. 5. That which is driven, forced, or urged along; as: (a) Anything driven at random. ``Some log . . . a useless drift.'' --Dryden. (b) A mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc., esp. by wind or water; as, a drift of snow, of ice, of sand, and the like. Drifts of rising dust involve the sky. -- Pope. We got the brig a good bed in the rushing drift [of ice]. --Kane. (c) A drove or flock, as of cattle, sheep, birds. [Obs.] Cattle coming over the bridge (with their great drift doing much damage to the high ways). -- Fuller. 6. (Arch.) The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments. [R.] --Knight. 7. (Geol.) A collection of loose earth and rocks, or boulders, which have been distributed over large portions of the earth's surface, especially in latitudes north of forty degrees, by the agency of ice. 8. In South Africa, a ford in a river. 9. (Mech.) A slightly tapered tool of steel for enlarging or shaping a hole in metal, by being forced or driven into or through it; a broach. 10. (Mil.) (a) A tool used in driving down compactly the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework. (b) A deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to oblong projectiles. 11. (Mining) A passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel. 12. (Naut.) (a) The distance through which a current flows in a given time. (b) The angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the meridian, in drifting. (c) The distance to which a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes. (d) The place in a deep-waisted vessel where the sheer is raised and the rail is cut off, and usually terminated with a scroll, or driftpiece. (e) The distance between the two blocks of a tackle. 13. The difference between the size of a bolt and the hole into which it is driven, or between the circumference of a hoop and that of the mast on which it is to be driven. Note: Drift is used also either adjectively or as the first part of a compound. See Drift, a. Drift of the forest (O. Eng. Law), an examination or view of the cattle in a forest, in order to see whose they are, whether they are commonable, and to determine whether or not the forest is surcharged. --Burrill.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(drifts, drifting, drifted) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. When something drifts somewhere, it is carried there by the movement of wind or water. We proceeded to drift on up the river... The waves became rougher as they drifted. VERB: V adv/prep, V 2. If someone or something drifts into a situation, they get into that situation in a way that is not planned or controlled. We need to offer young people drifting into crime an alternative set of values... There is a general sense that the country and economy alike are drifting. VERB: V prep/adv, V 3. If you say that someone drifts around, you mean that they travel from place to place without a plan or settled way of life. You've been drifting from job to job without any real commitment. VERB: V prep/adv [disapproval] 4. A drift is a movement away from somewhere or something, or a movement towards somewhere or something different. ...the drift towards the cities. N-COUNT: usu N prep 5. To drift somewhere means to move there slowly or gradually. As rural factories shed labour, people drift towards the cities. VERB: V prep 6. If sounds drift somewhere, they can be heard but they are not very loud. Cool summer dance sounds are drifting from the stereo indoors. VERB: V prep/adv 7. If snow drifts, it builds up into piles as a result of the movement of the wind. The snow, except where it drifted, was only calf-deep... VERB: V 8. A drift is a mass of snow that has built up into a pile as a result of the movement of wind. ...a nine-foot snow drift. N-COUNT 9. The drift of an argument or speech is the general point that is being made in it. Grace was beginning to get his drift... = gist N-SING: poss N, N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Course, bearing, direction. 2. Aim, purpose, intention, intent, proposal, design, scope, tendency, object, mark. 3. (Geol.) Diluvium, diluvial formations. 4. (Mining.) Passage (under ground, between shafts). 5. Sweep, rush, current, sweeping pressure, driving impulse. 6. Heap, heaped pile, driven mass, drifted pile. II. v. a. Drive into heaps. III. v. n. 1. Float, be wafted, be borne or carried by the current or aimlessly. 2. Accumulate in heaps, be driven into heaps.

Moby Thesaurus

Brownian movement, Zeitgeist, aberrancy, aberration, accumulation, advance, aeroplane, affective meaning, affluence, afflux, affluxion, aim, airlift, airplane, alluvion, alluvium, amble, angular motion, anthill, army, array, ascending, ascent, atmospherics, axial motion, azimuth, backflowing, backing, backward motion, balloon, bank, bank up, bat, bat around, batch, be a sideliner, be airborne, be still, bear off, bearing, bend, bent, bias, blaring, blasting, blind spot, branching off, bum, bunch, bundle, career, circuitousness, climbing, clump, cluster, clutch, coast, cock, colony, color, coloring, concourse, confluence, conflux, connotation, consequence, corner, count ties, course, crawling, creeping, crook, crosscurrent, cruise, current, curve, dance, dart, debris, declination, defluxion, delay, denotation, departure, deposit, descending, descent, detour, detritus, deviance, deviancy, deviation, deviousness, digression, diluvium, direction, direction line, discursion, disposition, divagate, divagation, divarication, divergence, diversion, do nothing, dogleg, double, downflow, downpour, downward motion, drift off course, driftage, drifting, drive, drove, dune, ebbing, effect, embankment, err, errantry, essence, excurse, excursion, excursus, exorbitation, extension, fade-out, fading, fall down, ferry, fetch away, flicker, flight, flit, flitter, float, flock, flood, flow, flowing, fluency, flutter, flux, fly, foot, force, forward motion, gad, gad about, gallivant, gam, gang, ghost, gist, glacial movement, glide, go about, go astray, go the rounds, grammatical meaning, group, gush, hairpin, hang fire, haycock, haymow, hayrick, haystack, heading, heap, heap up, helmsmanship, herd, hibernate, hill, hit the road, hit the trail, hobo, hop, host, hover, hydroplane, idea, idle, impact, implication, import, inclination, inclining, indirection, inflow, intension, intent, intention, interference, jaunt, jet, kennel, knock about, knock around, lay, leeway, lexical meaning, lie, lie dormant, line, line of direction, line of march, linger, literal meaning, litter, loess, lot, main current, mainstream, make leeway, mass, maunder, meander, meaning, mill run, millrace, molehill, mooch, mope, moraine, mosey, motion, mound, mountain, mounting, movement, mow, muck, navigate, navigation, noise, nomadize, not budge, not stir, object, oblique motion, obliquity, ongoing, onrush, onward course, orientation, outflow, overtone, pack, parcel, partiality, passage, pay off, penchant, peregrinate, pererrate, pererration, pertinence, pile, pile up, piloting, pith, plow the deep, plunging, pod, point, practical consequence, predilection, pride, progress, progression, propensity, prowl, purport, purpose, pyramid, quarter, race, radial motion, ramble, rambling, random motion, range, range of meaning, real meaning, reception, reference, referent, reflowing, refluence, reflux, regression, relation, relevance, rest, retrogression, rick, ride, ride the sea, rising, roam, rove, run, run about, rush, sag, sail, sailplane, saunter, school, scope, scree, scud, seaplane, sediment, semantic cluster, semantic field, sense, set, sheer, shift, shifting, shifting course, shifting path, shoal, shock, shoot, sideward motion, significance, signification, significatum, signifie, silt, sinking, sinter, sit back, sit it out, skew, skim, skulk, slant, slip, sloth, snake, snowdrift, soar, soaring, span of meaning, spate, spirit, stack, stack up, stagnate, static, steerage, steering, sternway, straggle, stray, straying, stream, stroll, structural meaning, subsiding, substance, sum, sum and substance, surge, sweep, swerve, swerving, swing, swinging, symbolic meaning, tack, take it easy, take the air, take wing, tendency, tenor, the general tendency, the main course, tide, time spirit, tone, totality of associations, track, traipse, traject, trajet, tramp, transferred meaning, trend, trip, troop, turn, turning, twist, twist and turn, unadorned meaning, undercurrent, undertone, undertow, upward motion, vagabond, vagabondize, value, variation, veer, vegetate, volplane, waft, wait and see, walk the tracks, walk the waters, wander, wandering, warp, wash, watch and wait, water flow, way, wayfare, wind, wing, yaw, yaw off, zigzag