 drift |
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| 1. | [ verb ] be in motion due to some air or water current | |
| Synonyms: | float blow be_adrift | |
| Examples: | "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" |
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| Related terms: | travel stream tide float gust | |
| 2. | [ noun ] a force that moves something along | |
| Synonyms: | impetus impulsion | |
| Related terms: | force impel | |
| 3. | [ verb ] wander from a direct course or at random | |
| Synonyms: | err stray | |
| Examples: | "The child strayed from the path and her parents lost sight of her" "don't drift from the set course" |
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| Related terms: | travel wander straggler drifting | |
| 4. | [ verb ] move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment | |
| Synonyms: | wander roam range rove stray vagabond roll cast ramble tramp swan | |
| Examples: | "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" |
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| Related terms: | travel maunder gallivant stray wander straggler wanderer alley_cat wandering rambler vagabond drifting hiker | |
| 5. | [ verb ] be driven or carried along, as by the air | |
| Synonyms: | waft | |
| Examples: | "Sounds wafted into the room" |
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| Related terms: | travel float | |
| 6. | [ noun ] the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane) | |
| Related terms: | natural_process leeway ship airplane | |
| 7. | [ verb ] move in an unhurried fashion | |
| Examples: | "The unknown young man drifted among the invited guests" |
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| Related terms: | circulate freewheel | |
| 8. | [ verb ] vary or move from a fixed point or course | |
| Examples: | "stock prices are drifting higher" |
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| Related terms: | vary | |
| 9. | [ noun ] something that is heaped up by the wind or by water currents | |
| Related terms: | substance drumlin snowdrift | |
| 10. | [ noun ] general meaning or tenor | |
| Synonyms: | purport | |
| Examples: | : "caught the drift of the conversation" |
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| Related terms: | tenor drive | |
| 11. | [ verb ] be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a current | |
| Examples: | "snow drifting several feet high" "sand drifting like snow" |
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| Related terms: | accumulate | |
| 12. | [ verb ] live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely | |
| Synonyms: | freewheel | |
| Examples: | "My son drifted around for years in California before going to law school" |
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| Related terms: | exist free_agent | |
| 13. | [ verb ] be subject to fluctuation | |
| Examples: | "The stock market drifted upward" |
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| Related terms: | change | |
| 14. | [ verb ] (food) drive slowly and far afield for grazing | |
| Examples: | "drift the cattle herds westwards" |
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| Related terms: | crop | |
| 15. | [ noun ] (linguistics) a process of linguistic change over a period of time | |
| Related terms: | linguistic_process melioration | |
| 16. | [ verb ] (transportation) cause to be carried by a current | |
| Examples: | "drift the boats downstream" |
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| Related terms: | float float | |
| 17. | [ noun ] a general tendency to change (as of opinion) | |
| Synonyms: | trend movement | |
| Examples: | "not openly liberal but that is the trend of the book" "a broad movement of the electorate to the right" |
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| Related terms: | inclination evolutionary_trend gravitation drive | |
| 18. | [ noun ] (mining) a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine | |
| Synonyms: | gallery heading | |
| Examples: | "they dug a drift parallel with the vein" |
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| Related terms: | passageway mining | |
| Similar spelling: |
drifter draft drifting driftage drafty drafter draftee drafting |
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