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Verb: drift  drift
  1. Be in motion due to some air or water current
    - float, be adrift, blow
  2. Wander from a direct course or at random
    "don't drift from the set course";
    - stray, err
    "the labourers drift from one town to the next";
  4. Vary or move from a fixed point or course
    "stock prices are drifting higher"
  5. Live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely
    - freewheel
  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"
Noun: drift  drift
  1. A force that moves something along
    - impetus, impulsion
  2. The gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane)
  3. A process of linguistic change over a period of time
  4. A large mass of material 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 drift of the book";
    - trend, movement
  6. The pervading meaning or tenor
    "caught the general drift of the conversation";
    - purport
  7. (mining) a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine
    "they dug a drift parallel with the vein";
    - heading, gallery

Derived forms: drifting, drifted, drifts

Type of: accumulate, action, activity, amass, change, circulate, conglomerate, crop, cumulate, disposition, exist, float, force, gather, go, graze, inclination, linguistic process, live, locomote, mass, move, natural action, natural process, passageway, pasture, pile up, strain, subsist, survive, tendency, tenor, travel, vary

Encyclopedia: Drift, Kentucky