Meaning of 'drift' (Webster Dictionary)
- That causes drifting or that is drifted; movable by wind or
currents; as, drift currents; drift ice; drift mud.
- A driving; a violent movement.
- The act or motion of drifting; the force which impels or
drives; an overpowering influence or impulse.
- Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting.
- 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.
- That which is driven, forced, or urged along
- Anything driven at random.
- 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.
- A drove or flock, as of cattle, sheep, birds.
- The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon
the abutments.
- 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.
- In South Africa, a ford in a river.
- 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.
- A tool used in driving down compactly the composition
contained in a rocket, or like firework.
- A deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to oblong
projectiles.
- A passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway;
a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel.
- The distance through which a current flows in a given time.
- The angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the
meridian, in drifting.
- The distance to which a vessel is carried off from her
desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes.
- 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.
- The distance between the two blocks of a tackle.
- 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.
- 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.
- To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven
into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts.
- 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.
- To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body.
- To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or
sand.
- To enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift.
Meaning of 'drift' (Princeton's WordNet)
Meaning (1):
- a general tendency to change (as of opinion)
Example in sentence:- a broad movement of the electorate to the right;
- not openly liberal but that is the trend of the book
Meaning (2):
- the pervading meaning or tenor
Example in sentence:- caught the general drift of the conversation
Meaning (3):
- a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine
Example in sentence:- they dug a drift parallel with the vein
Meaning (4):
- wander from a direct course or at random
Example in sentence:- don't drift from the set course;
- The child strayed from the path and her parents lost sight of her
Meaning (5):
- cause to be carried by a current
Example in sentence:- drift the boats downstream
Meaning (6):
- drive slowly and far afield for grazing
Example in sentence:- drift the cattle herds westwards
Meaning (7):
- live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely
Example in sentence:- My son drifted around for years in California before going to law school
Meaning (8):
- move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
Example in sentence:- roving vagabonds;
- The cattle roam across the prairie;
- The gypsies roamed the woods;
- the laborers drift from one town to the next;
- the wandering Jew;
- They rolled from town to town
Meaning (9):
- be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a current
Example in sentence:- sand drifting like snow;
- snow drifting several feet high
Meaning (10):
- vary or move from a fixed point or course
Example in sentence:- stock prices are drifting higher
Meaning (11):
- be in motion due to some air or water current
Example in sentence:- the boat drifted on the lake;
- The leaves were blowing in the wind;
- The sailboat was adrift on the open sea;
- the shipwrecked boat drifted away from the shore
Meaning (12):
- be subject to fluctuation
Example in sentence:- The stock market drifted upward
Meaning (13):
- move in an unhurried fashion
Example in sentence:- The unknown young man drifted among the invited guests
Definition
[ a.]