Collins English-English Dictionary

drift [drɪft]

1. 1. vb [mainly intr] [also tr] to be carried along by or as if by currents of air or water or (of a current) to carry (a vessel, etc) along

2. 2. n driftpin a tapering steel tool driven into holes to enlarge or align them before bolting or riveting

3. 3. vb to move aimlessly from place to place or from one activity to another

4. 4. vb to wander or move gradually away from a fixed course or point; stray

5. 5. vb [also tr] (of snow, sand, etc) to accumulate in heaps or banks or to drive (snow, sand, etc) into heaps or banks

6. 6. n something piled up by the wind or current, such as a snowdrift

7. 7. n tendency, trend, meaning, or purport

   the drift of the argument

8. 8. n a state of indecision or inaction

9. 9. n the extent to which a vessel, aircraft, projectile, etc is driven off its course by adverse winds, tide, or current

10. 10. n a general tendency of surface ocean water to flow in the direction of the prevailing winds

    North Atlantic Drift

11. 11. n a driving movement, force, or influence; impulse

12. 12. n a controlled four-wheel skid, used by racing drivers to take bends at high speed

13. 13. n a loose unstratified deposit of sand, gravel, etc, esp one transported and deposited by a glacier or ice sheet

14. 14. n a horizontal passage in a mine that follows the mineral vein

15. 15. n something, esp a group of animals, driven along by human or natural agencies

    a drift of cattle

16. 16. n an uncontrolled slow change in some operating characteristic of a piece of equipment, esp an electronic circuit or component

17. 17. n [linguistics] gradual change in a language, esp in so far as this is influenced by the internal structure of the language rather than by contact with other languages

18. 18. n [South African] a ford

19. 19. n [engineering] a copper or brass bar used as a punch

20. 20. n [Etymology] C13: from Old Norse: snowdrift; related to Old High German trift pasturage