drift

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Change in frequency or time synchronization of a signal that occurs slowly.

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verb

1. To move along with or be carried away by the action of water: float, wash. See move/halt.
2. To pass smoothly, quietly, and undisturbed on or as if on a slippery surface: coast, slide. See move/halt.
3. To move about at random, especially over a wide area: gad, gallivant, meander, peregrinate, ramble, range, roam, rove, stray, traipse, wander. See move/halt.
4. To put into a disordered pile: bank¹, heap, hill, lump¹, mound, pile (up), stack. See order/disorder.

noun

1. A group of things gathered haphazardly: agglomeration, bank¹, cumulus, heap, hill, mass, mess, mound, mountain, pile, shock², stack, tumble. See order/disorder.
2. Something suggestive of running water: current, flood, flow, flux, rush, spate, stream, surge, tide. See move/halt.
3. The general sense or significance, as of an action or statement: amount, burden², import, purport, substance, tenor. Idioms: sum and substance, sum total. See meaning.
4. The thread or current of thought uniting or occurring in all the elements of a text or discourse: aim, burden², intent, meaning, purport, substance, tendency, tenor, thrust. See meaning.

Definition: move aimlessly
Antonyms: decide, direct, guide, set

n. the deviation of a vessel, aircraft, or projectile from its intended or expected course as the result of currents or winds: the pilot had not noticed any appreciable drift.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

1. The lateral deflection of a building, due to wind or other loads.
2. In a water spray device, the entrained unevaporated water carried from the device by air movement through it.
3. See driftpin, 2.
4. A deposit of loose materials such as gravel, rock fragments, clay and other soils which have been driven together by water, wind, or ice.

A theory from managerial accounting that relates to just-in-time (JIT) inventory (where a company only receives goods as they are needed to cut down on inventory costs) and production management. The idea behind DRIFT is that management wants all of the processes that make up the JIT philosophy to be done correctly and efficiently so there are no delays in the production process.

Investopedia Says:
The importance of DRIFT arises from the fact that a JIT production system is heavily reliant on the movement of parts and information along the production process. Subsequently, if there is the slightest error at one of the stages of production the whole production process will be affected. By "doing it right the first time" a company is able to run a smooth production process without needing to carry excessive inventory and greatly diminish the costs of production.

Related Links:
We look at a retailer's inventory turnaround times, its receivables as well as its collection period. Measuring Company Efficiency
We go over these methods of calculating this component of the balance sheet, and how the choice affects the bottom line. Inventory Valuation For Investors: FIFO And LIFO
A company's efficiency, financial strength and cash-flow health show in its management of working capital. Working Capital Works

A problem that can develop in tuned amplifiers when the frequency of the tuned circuit changes due to temperature or component aging.

(DOD, NATO) In ballistics, a shift in projectile direction due to gyroscopic action which results from gravitational and atmospherically induced torques on the spinning projectile.

A group of plants arranged in a graceful curved shape, spaced closer together in the center or at one end, then gradually farther apart at the edges or other end. Gertrude Jekyll was the first landscape designer to promote the idea of planting in drifts.

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Chance variation; in genetics, the random changes in gene frequencies in a population.

• antigenic d. — see antigenic drift.
• d. lambing — a strategy in which ewes which have lambed are periodically removed from a flock of lambing ewes by moving the unlambed ewes on to the next paddock or field.

• Mining - drift: horizontal passageway in mine; gallery
• Hills, Hollows, and Valleys - drift: glacial deposit of gravel or boulders
• Space Exploration and Rocketry - drift: lateral divergence from prescribed flight path
• Aviation and Aerodynamics - drift: deviation from course, esp. due to crosswinds
• Gaits - drift: float smoothly or effortlessly; move in an aimless or casual way
• Mood and Intent - drift: float smoothly or effortlessly; move in aimless or casual way

Look up drift in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Drift may mean:

Contents 1 Film and literature 2 Geography 3 Industry 4 Music 5 Science 6 See also

Film and literature

• Drift (Doctor Who), a 2002 Doctor Who novel
• Drift (film series), a series of Japanese films written and directed by Futoshi Jinno
• Drift, 2007 experimental short film by Max Hattler
• Drift (Transformers), a fictional character
• Drift (2012 film), an Australian movie starring Sam Worthington
• Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, a book by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow

Geography

• Battle of Rorke's Drift, 1879 battle between British and Zulu forces
• Drift, Cornwall, a village
• Drift Reservoir, near Drift, Cornwall
• Velddrif, a town on the west coast Bergrivier Local Municipality
• Drift, Kentucky

Industry

• Drift pin, a metalworking tool used to align parts
• Drift mining, a nearly horizontal underground tunnel
• Drift netting, a fishing technique where nets, called drift nets, are allowed to drift free in a sea or lake
• Pipe drift, eccentricity or roundness in a pipe's inner wall

Music

• Drift (Flotsam and Jetsam album),1995
• The Drift, 2006 album by Scott Walker
• Drift (Ken Block album), 2008
• "Drift (Emily Osment song)", a 2011 song by Emily Osment

Science

• Clock drift
• Directional Recoil Identification From Tracks, a dark matter experiment
• Drift (geology)
• Continental drift
• Drift velocity
• Genetic drift, mechanism of evolution
• Stochastic drift, the average change over time in a random process
• Drift (linguistics), a unidirectional short-term and cyclic long-term drift
• Drift (telecommunication), a comparatively long-term change in an attribute, value, or operational parameter of a system or equipment
• Diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform, a technique for spectra collection

See also

• Drifting (disambiguation)
• Drifter (disambiguation)
• Driftwood
• Daventry International Railfreight Terminal (DIRFT), in England
• Dérive, the spontaneous exploration of urban landscapes guided by aesthetic instinct

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
v. intr. - drive, glide, slentre omkring, danne driver, fyge sammen
v. tr. - få til at fyge sammen, danne driver af, dække med driver, opdorne, rive med sig
n. - strøm, flyden, driven, tankegang, mening, drive, passivitet, afdrift, minegang, klynge, aflejring

idioms:

• drift apart    blive fremmede for hinanden
• drift ashore    drive i land
• drift off    drive bort

Nederlands (Dutch)
zwerven, rondzwalken, leven zonder plan, drijven, bijeendrijven, afwijken, afdrijven, strekking, besluiteloosheid, drevel, vlaag, stroming, neiging, opzettelijke slip op vier wielen (in autorace), mijn schacht die ertslaag volgt, zwervende groep dieren

Français (French)
v. intr. - aller à la dérive, dériver, être poussé/emporté par le vent ou le courant, (Aviat) dériver, s'amonceler, s'entasser, (fig) aller à la dérive, tendre vers (des événements), (Radio) se décaler
v. tr. - flotter (du bois), entraîner (qch) (en parlant du courant), amonceler, entasser (la neige, le sable), (Mécan) brocher, mandariner (un trou de rivet)
n. - mouvement, courant, cours (des affaires, etc), dérive (d'un avion, d'un navire), (Électron) glissement, sens général, portée, amoncellement, congère (de neige), (Minér) direction, (galerie) de chassage, (Tech) chasse-clef, broche (d'assemblage)

idioms:

• drift apart    se détacher l'un de l'autre
• drift ashore    détourner vers le rivage
• drift off    s'assoupir

Deutsch (German)
v. - treiben, streifen
n. - Strömung, Wanderung, Verwehung, Abweichung vom Sollkurs, das Wesentliche, Tendenz

idioms:

• drift apart    sich auseinanderleben
• drift ashore    an Land geschwemmt werden
• drift off    eindämmern, abtreiben

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - παρασύρω/-ομαι, ξεπέφτω, κινούμαι, τραβώ προς, περιφέρομαι άσκοπα, βρίσκομαι έρμαιο, αρμενίζω ακυβέρνητος
n. - κίνηση, κατεύθυνση, διεύθυνση, ταχύτητα κίνησης, εξέλιξη, ρεύμα, τροπή (πραγμάτων), άξονας θέματος, τροπή συζήτησης, σωρός, στοίβα

idioms:

• drift apart    απομακρυνόμαστε, χανόμαστε σιγά-σιγά
• drift ashore    ξεπέφτω προς την ξεριά, με βγάζει το κύμα στην ακτή
• drift off    αποκοιμιέμαι, με παίρνει ο ύπνος

Italiano (Italian)
derivare, galleggiare, vagabondare, portata, tendenza

idioms:

• drift off    andare alla deriva, appisolarsi

Português (Portuguese)
v. - impelir
n. - impulso (m), direção (f)

idioms:

• drift off    pegar no sono

Русский (Russian)
дрейфовать, носиться, слоняться, перемещение, течение, направление

idioms:

• drift off    задремать, удалиться

Español (Spanish)
v. intr. - ir a la deriva, flotar, dejarse llevar por la corriente, vagabundear
v. tr. - dejarse llevar por la corriente
n. - deriva, tendencia, movimiento

idioms:

• drift apart    separarse
• drift ashore    arrojar a la playa
• drift off    dormirse lentamente

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - driva fram, ströva
n. - drift, ström, driva

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
漂, 漂流, 吹积, 漂泊, 游荡, 渐渐趋向, 使漂流, 使吹积, 漂流物, 漂移, 堆积物

idioms:

• drift apart    慢慢的分离
• drift ashore    向岸上漂移
• drift off    迷航, 不经意

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. intr. - 漂, 漂流, 吹積, 漂泊, 遊蕩, 漸漸趨向
v. tr. - 使漂流, 使吹積
n. - 漂流, 漂流物, 漂移, 堆積物

idioms:

• drift apart    慢慢的分離
• drift ashore    向岸上漂移
• drift off    迷航, 不經意

한국어 (Korean)
v. intr. - 표류하다, 바람에 날려 쌓이다, 어느 틈엔가 빠지다
v. tr. - ~을 표류시키다, 날려 쌓이게 하다
n. - 표류, 경향, 취지, 우력

idioms:

• drift apart    표류하여 흩어지다, 멀어지다
• drift off    점차적으로

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 漂流, 流れ, 大勢, 漂積物, 吹きだまり, 趣旨
v. - 漂流する, 漂う, 吹きだまりになる, 吹き積もる, あてもなくさまよう

idioms:

• drift apart    疎遠になる, 離れ離れになる, 次第に疎遠になる
• drift ashore    座礁する
• drift off    ゆっくりと移っていく

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) ينساق أو ينجرف بفعل تيار هوائي أو مائي, يجري أو يطفو برفق, يراكم أو تراكم بفعل المياه أو الرياح (الاسم) جرف بفعل تيار هوائي أو مائي, اندفاع تيار الما أو الهوا, كتله من شئ ( ثلج أو رمل مثلا) جرفتها الرياح, معنى عام, مغزى‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. intr. - ‮נישא (עם הזרם), נע ללא מטרה, נערם‬
v. tr. - ‮נערם, כיסה (דרך וכו') בסחף, עשה חורים במתכת או הגדילם‬
n. - ‮תנועה, כיוון, נטייה, מגמה, סחף, היסחפות, ערימה, משמעות, ניקבה במכרה, מכשיר לעיצוב חורים במתכת‬

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