Drift
[drɪft]
Definition
(noun.) a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine; 'they dug a drift parallel with the vein'.
(noun.) the pervading meaning or tenor; 'caught the general drift of the conversation'.
(noun.) 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'.
(noun.) a large mass of material that is heaped up by the wind or by water currents.
(noun.) a force that moves something along.
(noun.) the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane).
(noun.) a process of linguistic change over a period of time.
(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'.
(verb.) drive slowly and far afield for grazing; 'drift the cattle herds westwards'.
(verb.) cause to be carried by a current; 'drift the boats downstream'.
(verb.) move in an unhurried fashion; 'The unknown young man drifted among the invited guests'.
(verb.) vary or move from a fixed point or course; 'stock prices are drifting higher'.
(verb.) be subject to fluctuation; 'The stock market drifted upward'.
Edited by Juanita--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A driving; a violent movement.
(n.) The act or motion of drifting; the force which impels or drives; an overpowering influence or impulse.
(n.) Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting.
(n.) 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.
(n.) That which is driven, forced, or urged along
(n.) Anything driven at random.
(n.) 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.
(n.) A drove or flock, as of cattle, sheep, birds.
(n.) The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments.
(n.) 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.
(n.) In South Africa, a ford in a river.
(n.) 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.
(n.) A tool used in driving down compactly the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework.
(n.) A deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to oblong projectiles.
(n.) A passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel.
(n.) The distance through which a current flows in a given time.
(n.) The angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the meridian, in drifting.
(n.) The distance to which a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes.
(n.) 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.
(n.) The distance between the two blocks of a tackle.
(n.) 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.
(v. i.) 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.
(v. i.) To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts.
(v. i.) 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.
(v. t.) To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body.
(v. t.) To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand.
(v. t.) To enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift.
(a.) That causes drifting or that is drifted; movable by wind or currents; as, drift currents; drift ice; drift mud.
Checker: Raymond
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Course, bearing, direction.[2]. Aim, purpose, intention, intent, proposal, design, scope, tendency, object, mark.[3]. (Geol.) Diluvium, diluvial formations.[4]. (Mining.) Passage (under ground, between shafts).
v. a. Drive into heaps.
v. n. [1]. Float, be wafted.[2]. Accumulate in heaps, be driven into heaps.
Checked by Jean
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Loose, afloat, agog, abroad, abroach, distracted, disordered
ANT:'fait victorious', tight, right, lashed, moored, secure, collected, composed
SYN:Tendency, direction, motion, tenor, meaning, purport, object, intention,purpose, scope, aim, result, issue, {[inierence]?}, conclusion, end, course
ANT:Aimlessness, pointlessness, vagueness, unmeaningness, indefiniteness,confusedness, aberrancy
Editor: Tess
Definition
n. a driving: a heap of matter driven together as snow: the direction in which a thing is driven: a slow current in the sea caused by the wind: leeway: the object aimed at: the meaning of words used: (geol.) detritus such as broken rock sand gravel: (mining) a horizontal excavation or passage.—v.t. to drive into heaps as snow.—v.i. to be floated along: to be driven into heaps.—ns. Drift′age that which is drifted: the amount of deviation from a ship's course due to leeway; Drift′-an′chor an anchor for keeping the ship's head to the wind; Drift′-bolt a steel bolt used to drive out other bolts; Drift′-ice floating masses of ice drifting before the wind; Drift′land an old tribute paid for the privilege of driving cattle through a manor.—adj. Drift′less without drift or aim.—ns. Drift′-min′ing gold-mining by means of drifts in the gravel and detritus of old river-beds; Drift′-net a net kept upright in the water by floats above and weights below; Drift′-sail a sail immersed in the water used for lessening the drift of a vessel during a storm; Drift′-way a road over which cattle were driven: (min.) drift; Drift′-weed gulf-weed: tangle; Drift′-wood wood drifted by water.—adj. Drift′y full of or forming drifts.
Typed by Freddie
Examples
- They would say that, at any rate, if they did not perceive the drift of the question. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- But, now thou knowest my drift, thou wilt resume thine own original plan, wilt thou not? Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Why not drift on in a series of accidents-like a picaresque novel? D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The general drift of the common man in this period in Europe was to set up his new acquisition, the Bible, as a counter authority to the church. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Beginning now to perceive his drift, I had a certain pleasure in keeping cool, and working him up. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- The water lies between two very sharp slopes, with little branch valleys, and God knows where the drift will take you. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- She seemed to catch the drift of his statement, and then she drew away. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Everything that arose before his mind drifted him on, faster and faster, more and more steadily, to the terrible attraction. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- Slowly the launch drifted round in a pathetic, clumsy circle, and slunk away to the land, retreating into the dimness. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He drifted on swiftly to Beldover, half-unconscious of his own movement. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- His name was familiar to me, for many years ago my parents were acquainted with him, but they drifted apart. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Nay, tell me how you class your wealth of books The drifted relics of all time. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- They drifted through the wild, late afternoon, in a beautiful motion that was smiling and transcendent. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Not a sign of life was manifest upon her as she drifted slowly with the light breeze in a southeasterly direction. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- It is the drifting icebergs setting with any current anywhere, that wreck the ships. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Drifting after a time from Louisville, Edison made his way as far north as Detroit, but, like the famous Duke of York, soon made his way back again. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- And Jo felt as if during that fortnight her sister had grown up amazingly, and was drifting away from her into a world where she could not follow. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Why not be casual, drifting along, taking all for what it was worth? D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- We could hear the men working on the broken propellers, and from the port-hole we could see that the vessel was drifting lazily toward the south. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- He drifted, as on a wind, veered, and went drifting away. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Following the current with her eyes, she saw a bloody face turned up towards the moon, and drifting away. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- But ere the words had passed his lips she was across the snowy road, rather skimming than wading the drifts. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Rough, cold night, Sir,' replied the man; 'and there's a wind got up, that drifts it across the fields, in a thick white cloud. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- His object drifts up, before he is quite ready for it. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- All along, and among, and above these crags dash and flash, sweep and leap, swells, wreaths, drifts of snowy spray. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Editor: Tess