Dictionary:

drift

  (drĭft)

1. To be carried along by currents of air or water: a balloon drifting eastward; as the wreckage drifted toward shore.
2. To proceed or move unhurriedly and smoothly: drifting among the party guests.
3. To move leisurely or sporadically from place to place, especially without purpose or regular employment: a day laborer, drifting from town to town.
4. 1. To wander from a set course or point of attention; stray.
   2. To vary from or oscillate randomly about a fixed setting, position, or mode of operation.
5. To be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of a current: snow drifting to five feet.

1. To cause to be carried in a current: drifting the logs downstream.
2. To pile up in banks or heaps: Wind drifted the loose straw against the barn.
3. Western U.S. To drive (livestock) slowly or far afield, especially for grazing.

1. The act or condition of drifting.
2. Something moving along in a current of air or water.
3. A bank or pile, as of sand or snow, heaped up by currents of air or water.
4. Geology. Rock debris transported and deposited by or from ice, especially by or from a glacier.
5. 1. A general trend or tendency, as of opinion. See synonyms at tendency.
   2. General meaning or purport; tenor: caught the drift of the conversation.
6. 1. A gradual change in position.
   2. A gradual deviation from an original course, model, method, or intention.
   3. Variation or random oscillation about a fixed setting, position, or mode of behavior.
7. A gradual change in the output of a circuit or amplifier.
8. The rate of flow of a water current.
9. 1. A tool for ramming or driving something down.
   2. A tapered steel pin for enlarging and aligning holes.
10. 1. A horizontal or nearly horizontal passageway in a mine running through or parallel to a vein.
    2. A secondary mine passageway between two main shafts or tunnels.
11. A drove or herd, especially of swine. See synonyms at flock¹.

[From Middle English, drove, herd, act of driving.]

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

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.

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.

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.

Drift may refer to:

The effect of wind and water pushing a body (person or thing around) usually in a current. A difference in drift rates becomes an urgent matter in a Man Over Board Event, and a positional drift constantly concerns Navigators and Pilots conning large vessels as well as Aviators conning aircraf: world-wide.

• Drifting (motorsport), which is a sport where drivers intentionally induce oversteer, to be judged on their technique.
• Drift (railroad), which in railroading is the cutting off of power and using inertia alone to maintain forward movement.
• Drift, which is a term used to describe a shallow river crossing in South Africa:
  • Pont Drift on the Limpopo River on the road between South Africa and Botswana.
  • Rorke's Drift, which is the site of 1879 battle between British and Zulu forces.
  • Mostert's Drift, near Jonkershoek, on the Eerste River at Stellenbosch.
  • Mulder's Drift, near Johannesburg on the road between Krugersdorp and Pretoria.
  • Velddrif, which is a town on the west coast Bergrivier Local Municipality.
  • Xuka Drift on the upper reaches of the Mbashe River near Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape.
• Drift, Cornwall: a village – Drift Reservoir is nearby
• Drift (linguistics): the variation of speech.
• Drift (telecommunication): the slow long-term variation of an attribute or value of a system or device.
• Drift (plasma physics): the motion of the guiding centers of magnetized plasmas' particles.
• Drift mining: a nearly horizontal underground tunnel.
• Drift (geology): rock debris transported and deposited by or from ice, especially by or from a glacier.
• Drift pin: several kinds of tools used for enlarging or aligning holes.
• Genetic drift: mechanism of evolution that change the characteristics of species over time.
• Snow drift: a deposit of snow created by the wind
• Ice drift: drift of sea ice
• Clock drift: a phenomenon where a clock does not run in the exact right speed compared to another clock.
• The condition where a motor vehicle's rear wheels slip at a greater angle than the front wheels; see oversteer.
• Intentional use of oversteer for faster cornering in low road surface traction conditions; see Opposite lock
• Drift - Dancer without a body, an online dance film. [1]
• Drift (Fluid Mechanics): the permanent displacement of fluid particles in an inviscid fluid owing to their kinematic motion when a body passes through it.
• Drift (album) is the fifth album by Flotsam and Jetsam.
• Drift (Doctor Who), a Doctor Who novel.

See also:

• Driftwood
• Continental drift

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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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