DRIFT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Drift

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/drɪft/ Listen

Drift

noun

1.

A force that moves something along. Synonyms: 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). Synonyms: movement, trend. "A broad movement of the electorate to the right"

6.

The pervading meaning or tenor. Synonym: purport.

7.

A horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine. Synonyms: gallery, heading.

verb

(past & past part. drifted; pres. part. drifting)

1.

Be in motion due to some air or water current. Synonyms: be adrift, blow, float. "The boat drifted on the lake" , "The sailboat was adrift on the open sea" , "The shipwrecked boat drifted away from the shore"

2.

Wander from a direct course or at random. Synonyms: err, stray. "Don't drift from the set course"

3.

Move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment. Synonyms: cast, ramble, range, roam, roll, rove, stray, swan, tramp, vagabond, wander. "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"

4.

Vary or move from a fixed point or course.

5.

Live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely. Synonym: freewheel.

6.

Move in an unhurried fashion.

7.

Cause to be carried by a current.

8.

Drive slowly and far afield for grazing.

9.

Be subject to fluctuation.

10.

Be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a current. "Sand drifting like snow"

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continental drift

WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Drift" Quotes from Famous Books

... crowded together in the corner of the ruined hut, and snow as well as "light" came in "through the chinks that time had made." Owing to a change in the wind, the smoke of the fire outside drifted in; and there was evidence of a worse drift—that of the snow, which before nightfall I daresay may have buried ...

— Round About the Carpathians • Andrew F. Crosse

... the boat, when four men, armed with long spears, emerged from the wood, and threw themselves upon it to take possession of it. They would have succeeded with ease, had not the crew of the boat out at sea perceived them, and cried out to the lads to let it drift with the current. They were pursued so closely by the enemy, that the master of the pinnace discharged his gun over the ...

— Celebrated Travels and Travellers - Part 2. The Great Navigators of the Eighteenth Century • Jules Verne

... waved aside the idea of a suit. "The whole thing," said he, "is merely a question of tactics. Things are going along very satisfactorily as they are. There's a drift on, a tendency—you might say. The clothing people have come in. Magees have come in. Why, they've agreed to do every blessed thing you asked—fireproofed stairways and fire-doors, ...

— V. V.'s Eyes • Henry Sydnor Harrison

... the sandy beach abreast of the anchorage; in doing this the boat filled, and the instruments were so wetted, that they were left on the beach to dry during our absence. Our ascent, from the hill being steep, and composed of a very loose drift sand, was difficult and fatiguing; but the beautiful flowers and plants, with which the surface of the hill was strewed, repaid us for our toil. These being all new to Mr. Cunningham fully occupied his attention, ...

— Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia - Performed between the years 1818 and 1822 • Phillip Parker King

... house has been converted into a surplus club for half the fellows in the station; and if you are going to spend your time 'getting inside' other men with a view to painting their portraits, we shall simply drift apart as the Nortons did. Conditions of life out here make that sort of thing fatally easy to fall into. But I tell you plainly that if there is to be no attempt at amalgamation, if we are each to go our own way, then—we must lead separate lives. ...

— The Great Amulet • Maud Diver

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