Definitions of drift [ɪft]

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Definition of 'drift'

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

1. (n.) drift
a driving movement or action.

2.  drift
(of a ship) the component of the movement that is due to the force of wind and currents.

3.  drift
a broad, shallow ocean current that advances at the rate of 10 to 15 mi. (16 to 24 km) a day.

4.  drift
the flow or the speed in knots of an ocean current.

5.  drift
a gradual deviation from a natural or desirable position or course.

6.  drift
the course along which something moves; tendency; aim:
a drift toward the political right.

7.  drift
a meaning; intent; purport:
the drift of a statement.

8.  drift
the state or process of being driven.

9.  drift
something driven, as animals or rain.

10.  drift
a heap of any matter driven together.

11.  drift
a snowdrift.

12.  drift
loose material, as gravel, sand, etc., transported and deposited by glacial ice or meltwater.

13.  drift
a gradual change in some operating characteristic of a circuit, tube, or other electronic device, as an effect of warming up or of continued use.

14.  drift
gradual change in the structure of a language.

15.  drift
a round tapering piece of steel for enlarging holes in metal or for bringing holes in line to receive rivets or bolts.

16.  drift
a flat tapered piece of steel used to drive tools with tapered shanks, as drill bits, from their holders.

17.  drift
an approximately horizontal passageway in underground mining.

18.  drift
the gradual deviation of a rocket or guided missile from its intended trajectory.

19. (v.i.) drift
to be carried along, as by currents of water or by the force of circumstances.

20.  drift
to wander aimlessly:
to drift from town to town.

21.  drift
to be driven into heaps, as by the wind.

22.  drift
to deviate or vary, as from a proper position or set course.

23. (v.t.) drift
to carry along:
The current drifted the boat to sea.

24.  drift
to drive into heaps.

Etymology: (1250–1300; ME drift, n. der. of OE drīfan to drive)

Definition of 'drift'

Princeton's WordNet

1. (noun) drift, impetus, impulsion
a force that moves something along

2. (noun) drift
the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane)

3. (noun) drift
a process of linguistic change over a period of time

4. (noun) drift
a large mass of material that is heaped up by the wind or by water currents

5. (noun) drift, trend, movement
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"

6. (noun) drift, purport
the pervading meaning or tenor
"caught the general drift of the conversation"

7. (verb) drift, heading, gallery
a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine
"they dug a drift parallel with the vein"

8. (verb) float, drift, be adrift, blow
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"

9. (verb) stray, err, drift
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"

10. (verb) roll, wander, swan, stray, tramp, roam, cast, ramble, rove, range, drift, vagabond
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"

11. (verb) drift
vary or move from a fixed point or course
"stock prices are drifting higher"

12. (verb) freewheel, drift
live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely
"My son drifted around for years in California before going to law school"

13. (verb) drift
move in an unhurried fashion
"The unknown young man drifted among the invited guests"

14. (verb) drift
cause to be carried by a current
"drift the boats downstream"

15. (verb) drift
drive slowly and far afield for grazing
"drift the cattle herds westwards"

16. (verb) drift
be subject to fluctuation
"The stock market drifted upward"

17. (verb) drift
be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a current
"snow drifting several feet high"; "sand drifting like snow"

Definition of 'drift'

Kernerman English Learner’s Dictionary

1. (verb) drift
to float slowly, pushed by a current
a piece of wood drifting down the stream; A balloon drifted by.

2.  drift
to move without purpose
people drifting in and out of the room

3.  drift
to change slowly, often becoming worse
The marriage drifted toward failure.

4.  drift
to be pushed by the wind into piles
drifting snow

5. (noun) drift
a slow change, often toward sth bad
the drift toward war; the Democrats' drift toward the center

6.  drift
a slow movement
the drift of the continents

7.  drift
a pile of snow, created by the wind
six foot drifts

8.  drift
catch/get the drift
to understand the basic idea of what sb is saying
I didn't catch the drift of her argument.

Definition of 'drift'

Webster Dictionary

1. (adj) drift
that causes drifting or that is drifted; movable by wind or currents; as, drift currents; drift ice; drift mud

2. (noun) drift
a driving; a violent movement

3. (noun) drift
the act or motion of drifting; the force which impels or drives; an overpowering influence or impulse

4. (noun) drift
course or direction along which anything is driven; setting

5. (noun) drift
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

6. (noun) drift
that which is driven, forced, or urged along

7. (noun) drift
anything driven at random

8. (noun) drift
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

9. (noun) drift
a drove or flock, as of cattle, sheep, birds

10. (noun) drift
the horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments

11. (noun) drift
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

12. (noun) drift
in South Africa, a ford in a river

13. (noun) drift
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

14. (noun) drift
a tool used in driving down compactly the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework

15. (noun) drift
a deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to oblong projectiles

16. (noun) drift
a passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel

17. (noun) drift
the distance through which a current flows in a given time

18. (noun) drift
the angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the meridian, in drifting

19. (noun) drift
the distance to which a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes

20. (noun) drift
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

21. (noun) drift
the distance between the two blocks of a tackle

22. (noun) drift
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

23. (verb) drift
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

24. (verb) drift
to accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts

25. (verb) drift
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

26. (verb) drift
to drive or carry, as currents do a floating body

27. (verb) drift
to drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand

28. (verb) drift
to enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift

Definition of 'drift'

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

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

Translation of 'drift'

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary

Sense: a heap of something driven together, especially snow His car stuck in a snowdrift.
Afrikaans: opeenhoping, massa	Arabic: رُكام، إنْجِراف	Bulgarian: преспа
Brazilian: monte	Czech: závěj	German: das Treiben
Danish: drive; snedrive	Greek: παρασυρόμενη μάζα	Spanish: montón
Estonian: hang, hunnik	Farsi: توده؛ پشته	Finnish: kinos
French: amoncellement, congère	Hebrew: הִיסַחֲפוּת	Hindi: बहाव
Croatian: nanos, hrpa	Hungarian: förgeteg; hófúvás	Indonesian: tumpukan
Icelandic: skafl	Italian: mucchio, cumulo	Japanese: 吹きだまり
Korean: 표는 하는 덩어리	Lithuanian: sąnaša, pusnis	Latvian: (sniega) kupena; (lapu) k
Malay: tompokkan	Dutch: opeenhoping	Norwegian: haug, snødrive
Polish: zaspa	Persian: كتله، كوچ	Pashto: كوچ يا ګردله لكه د واورى
Portuguese: monte	Romanian: morman, grămadă	Russian: куча; сугроб
Slovak: závej	Slovenian: kup	Serbian: smet
Swedish: driva	Thai: กอง	Turkish: yığın, birikinti
Taiwanese: 吹積物	Ukrainian: замет, кучугура	Urdu: برف یا ریت کا جمع کردہ ڈھ
Vietnamese: đống	Chinese: 吹积物
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