Link Centre Dictionary

drift

UK/dɹɪft/ US/ˈdrɪft/ fairly common us
verb (10) noun (7)

verb

1.

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”
Synonyms
2.

wander from a direct course or at random

  • “The child strayed from the path and her parents lost sight of her”
  • “don”
Synonyms
3.

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”
Synonyms
4.

vary or move from a fixed point or course

  • “stock prices are drifting higher”
5.

live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely

  • “My son drifted around for years in California before going to law school”
Synonyms
6.

move in an unhurried fashion

  • “The unknown young man drifted among the invited guests”
7.

cause to be carried by a current

  • “drift the boats downstream”
8.

drive slowly and far afield for grazing

  • “drift the cattle herds westwards”
9.

be subject to fluctuation

  • “The stock market drifted upward”
10.

be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a current

  • “snow drifting several feet high”
  • “sand drifting like snow”

noun

1.

a force that moves something along

Synonyms
2.

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

3.
4.

something that is heaped up by the wind or by water currents

5.

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”
Synonyms
6.

general meaning or tenor

  • “caught the drift of the conversation”
Synonyms
7.

a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine

  • “they dug a drift parallel with the vein”
Synonyms

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • AI drift
  • catch someone's drift
  • channel drift
  • concept drift
  • continental drift
  • Darwin drift
  • downward drift
  • drift along
  • drift anchor
  • drift apart
  • drift away
  • drift off

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.