Sekirov Dictionary

drift

/dɹɪft/

noun 38
verb 9
forms 5
phrases 5

noun38

Movement; that which moves or is moved.
•
Anything driven at random.
- Some log perhaps upon the waters swam, a useless drift. — 1667
A collection of logs floating down a river.
•
That which is driven, forced, or urged along.
- The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom.[…]Drifts of yellow vapour, fiery, parching, stinging, filled the air. — 1892
•
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. — 1678
Movement.
•
A mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc., especially by wind or water.
- a drift of snow, of ice, of sand, of plants, etc.
•
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 retreat of continental glaciers, such as that which buries former river valleys and creates young river valleys.
- It is there seen that at a distance from the valleys of streams, the old glacial drift usually comes to the surface, and often rises into considerable eminences. — 1867
Driftwood included in flotsam washed up onto the beach.
•
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.
- c. early 1700s, Joseph Addison, A Discourse on Ancient and Modern Learning He has made the drift of the whole poem a compliment on his country in general.
Slow, cumulative change.
A deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to obloid projectiles.
•
Minor deviation of audio or video playback from its correct speed.
- Reference sync servo system — permits minimal time-base error, assuring minimum jitter and drift. — 1975
•
The situation where a performer gradually and unintentionally moves from their proper location within the scene.
- There is another form of drift when playing in a scene with other actors. — 1970
Of a boring or a driven tunnel: deviation from the intended course.
The angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the meridian, in drifting.
The distance a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes.
•
Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting.
- Our drift was south. — 1589
•
The animals being moved in a drive, as of cattle, goats, horses, pigs or sheep.
- cattle coming over the bridge (with their great drifts doing much damage to the high ways) — 1655
•
A group of birds moving together.
- A drift of geese rose over the bank. — 2023
A sideways movement of the ball through the air, when bowled by a spin bowler.
A passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery.
An adit or tunnel driven forward for purposes of exploration or exploitation; generally eventually to a dead end.
A sloping winze or road to the surface, for purposes of haulage.
In a coal mine, a heading driven for exploration or ventilation.
A heading driven through a seam of coal.
A tool.
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 to pack down the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework.
A tool used to insert or extract a removable pin made of metal or hardwood, for the purpose of aligning and/or securing two pieces of material together.
The distance through which a current flows in a given time.
A place (a ford) along a river where the water is shallow enough to permit crossing to the opposite side.
In the New Forest National Park, UK, the bi-annual round-up of wild ponies in order to sell them.
The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments.
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.
The distance between the two blocks of a tackle.
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.
(no longer used) A driving; a violent movement.

verb9

•
To move slowly, especially pushed by currents of water, air, etc.
- The boat drifted away from the shore.
- The balloon was drifting in the breeze.
•
To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body.
- I was drifted back first to the ante - Nicene history , and then to the Church of Alexandria — 1865
•
To move haphazardly without any destination.
- He drifted from town to town, never settling down.
•
To deviate gently from the intended direction of travel.
- This car tends to drift left at high speeds.
•
To drive into heaps.
- A current of wind drifts snow or sand
•
To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps.
- Snow or sand drifts.
To oversteer a vehicle, causing loss of traction, while maintaining control from entry to exit of a corner. See Drifting (motorsport).
(US) 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 enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift.

forms

drifted · drifting · drifteth · drifts · driftest

Phrases with drift

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