drift

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”).

noun

1. (physical) Movement; that which moves or is moved.
   1. Anything driven at random.
   2. 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.
      We […] got the brig a good bed in the rushing drift [of ice]. 1855, Elisha Kent Kane, Arctic explorations: The second Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin
      Many of these ground-layer plants were placed in naturalistic drifts to make it appear as if they were sowing themselves. 2012, David L. Culp, The Layered Garden: Design Lessons for Year-Round Beauty from Brandywine Cottage, Timber Press, page 168
   3. The distance through which a current flows in a given time.
   4. A drove or flock, as of cattle, sheep, birds.
      cattle coming over the bridge (with their great drifts doing much damage to the high ways)
   5. 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, E. Andrews, "Observations on the Glacial Drift beneath the bed of Lake Michigan," American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. 43, nos. 127-129, page 75
   6. Driftwood included in flotsam washed up onto the beach.
   7. (obsolete) A driving; a violent movement.
      The dragon drew him [self] away with drift of his wings. 1332, author unknown, King Alisaunder
   8. Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting.
   9. 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, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid
2. 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, Robert South, Prevention of Sin an unvaluable Mercy, sermon preached at Christ-Church, Oxon on November 10, 1678
3. A place (a ford) along a river where the water is shallow enough to permit crossing to the opposite side.
4. 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.
   Besides, you lack the brains to catch my drift. / If I explained you wouldn't understand. 1951, Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill, The Canterbury Tales: Translated into Modern English (Penguin Classics), Penguin Books, published 1977, page 216
5. (architecture) The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments.
6. (handiwork) A tool.
   1. 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.
   2. A tool used to pack down the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework.
   3. 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.
7. A deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to obloid projectiles.
8. (uncountable) 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, Broadcast Management/engineering, volume 11
9. (uncountable, film) 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, Michael Pate, The Film Actor: Acting for Motion Pictures and Television, page 64
10. (mining)
    1. (mining) A passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery.
    2. (mining) An adit or tunnel driven forward for purposes of exploration or exploitation; generally eventually to a dead end.
    3. (mining) A sloping winze or road to the surface, for purposes of haulage.
    4. (mining) In a coal mine, a heading driven for exploration or ventilation.
    5. (mining) Of a boring or a driven tunnel: deviation from the intended course.
    6. (mining) A heading driven through a seam of coal.
11. (nautical) Movement.
    1. The angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the meridian, in drifting.
    2. The distance a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes.
    3. 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.
    4. The distance between the two blocks of a tackle.
    5. 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.
12. (cricket) A sideways movement of the ball through the air, when bowled by a spin bowler.
13. Slow, cumulative change.
    genetic drift
14. In New Forest National Park, UK, the bi-annual round-up of wild ponies in order to be sold.

verb

1. (intransitive) 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.
   One day I was out in the barn and he drifted in. I was currying the horse and he set down on the wheelbarrow and begun to ask questions. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 11, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
2. (intransitive) To move haphazardly without any destination.
   He drifted from town to town, never settling down.
3. (intransitive) To deviate gently from the intended direction of travel.
   This car tends to drift left at high speeds.
   Midway through the half, Argentine Tevez did begin to drift inside in order to exert his influence but by this stage Mick McCarthy's side had gone 1-0 up and looked comfortable. January 15, 2011, Saj Chowdhury, “Man City 4-3 Wolves”, in BBC
4. (transitive) To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body.
   1865-1866, John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua I was drifted back first to the ante - Nicene history , and then to the Church of Alexandria
5. (transitive) To drive into heaps.
   A current of wind drifts snow or sand
6. (intransitive) To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps.
   Snow or sand drifts.
7. (mining, 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.
8. (transitive, engineering) To enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift.
9. (automotive) To oversteer a vehicle, causing loss of traction, while maintaining control from entry to exit of a corner. See Drifting (motorsport).