drift /drift/ noun- A heap of matter (eg snow) driven together
- Floating materials driven by water
- A driving
- A drove (archaic)
- A driving shower
- A streaming movement
- The direction in which a thing is driven
- A slow current caused by the wind
- Leeway
- Passive travel with the current, wind, etc
- Abandonment to external influences
- Tendency
- A cattle-track, drove road
- A group of animals driven or herded
- A pin or bar driven into a hole, eg to enlarge it (also driftˈpin)
- A drift net
- A set of nets
- The object aimed at
- The meaning or implication of words used
- Loose superficial deposits, esp glacial or fluvioglacial (geology)
- A horizontal or oblique excavation or passage (mining)
- A ford (S Afr; from Dutch)
transitive verb- To drive
- To carry by drift
- To cause or allow to drift
- To pierce or tunnel
intransitive verb- To be floated along
- To be driven into heaps
- To leave things to circumstances
- To wander around, or live, without any definite aim
ORIGIN: ME; ON drift snowdrift; root as drive driftˈage noun - That which is drifted
- The amount of deviation from a ship's course due to leeway
driftˈer noun - Someone or something that drifts
- An aimless shiftless person
- A fisherman or a fishing-boat that uses a drift net
driftˈless adjective Without drift driftˈy adjective Full of or forming drifts driftˈ-anchor noun An anchor for keeping the ship's head to the wind driftˈ-bolt noun A steel bolt used to drive out other bolts drift ice noun Floating masses of ice drifting before the wind driftˈ-land noun An old tribute paid for the privilege of driving cattle through a manor driftˈ-mining noun - Gold-mining by means of drifts in the gravel and detritus of old river beds
- Coalmining by means of drifts
drift net noun A net that is allowed to drift with the tide driftˈpin see drift (n) above. driftˈ-sail noun A sail immersed in the water, used for lessening the drift of a vessel during a storm drift transistor noun (radio) One in which resistivity increases continuously between emitter and collector junctions, improving high-frequency performance drift tube noun (electronics) A tube-shaped electrode in which electrons pass without significant change in velocity, while the accelerating radio frequency voltage changes driftˈ-way noun - A road over which cattle are driven
- Drift (mining)
driftˈ-weed noun - Gulf-weed
- Tangle
- Seaweed thrown up on the beach
driftˈwood noun Wood drifted by water |