English Explanatory Dictionary

drift

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Movement; that which moves or is moved.
  2. Anything driven at random.
  3. 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.
  4. The distance through which a current flows in a given time.
  5. A drove or flock, as of cattle, sheep, birds.
  6. 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.
  7. Driftwood included in flotsam washed up onto the beach.
  8. A driving; a violent movement.
  9. Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting.
  10. That which is driven, forced, or urged along.
  11. The act or motion of drifting; the force which impels or drives; an overpowering influence or impulse.
  12. A place (a ford) along a river where the water is shallow enough to permit crossing to the opposite side.
verb
  1. To move slowly, especially pushed by currents of water, air, etc.
  2. To move haphazardly without any destination.
  3. To deviate gently from the intended direction of travel.
  4. To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body.
  5. To drive into heaps.
  6. To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps.
  7. 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.
  8. To enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift.
  9. To oversteer a vehicle, causing loss of traction, while maintaining control from entry to exit of a corner. See Drifting (motorsport).

Pronunciation

drĭft /dɹɪft/ en-us-drift.ogg en-au-drift.ogg

Word forms

drift drifts drifting drifted

Etymology

From Middle English drift, dryft (“act of driving, drove, shower of rain or snow, impulse”), from Old English *drift (“drift”), from Proto-Germanic *driftiz (“drift”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”). Equivalent to drive + -t; cognate with North Frisian drift (“drift”), Saterland Frisian Drift (“current, flow, stream, drift”), Dutch drift (“drift, passion, urge”), German Drift (“drift”) and Trift (“drove, pasture”), Danish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Swedish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Icelandic drift (“drift, snow-drift”).

Synonyms

swerve

Derived words

afterdrift AI drift catch someone's drift channel drift concept drift continental drift Darwin drift dedrift downdrift downward drift driftage driftal drift anchor drift-anchor driftbolt drift-bolt drift-current drift excursion driftfish drift fishing drift fruit driftful drift ice driftland driftless driftlet driftling drift meter drift mine drift mining drift net drift-net drift of the forest drift park drift phonk driftpin drift sail drift-sail drift seed drift space driftway driftweed driftwind driftwood drifty exodrift foredrift genetic drift get someone's drift get the drift glacial drift instinctive drift longshore drift mid-drift raindrift sea-drift semantic drift shift and drift snow drift snowdrift
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