drift Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

Drift noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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. ✍ Drift is used also either adjectively or as the first part of a compound. See Drift, a. Burrill.
Drift intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Drifted; present participle & verbal noun Drifting
Definitions
  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.
Drift transitive verb
Definitions
  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.
Drift adjective
Definitions
  1. That causes drifting or that is drifted; movable by wind or currents; as, drift currents; drift ice; drift mud. Kane.

Webster 1913