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    drift
    [drift]
    verb
    drift (verb) · drifts (third person present) · drifted (past tense) · drifted (past participle) · drifting (present participle)
    1. be carried slowly by a current of air or water:
      "the cabin cruiser started to drift downstream" · "excited voices drifted down the hall"
      • walk slowly, aimlessly, or casually:
        "people began to drift away"
      • move passively, aimlessly, or involuntarily into a certain situation or condition:
        "I've just drifted into things because they were offered to me and they seemed like fun" · "he was drifting in and out of consciousness"
      • (of a person or their attention) digress or stray to another subject:
        "I noticed my audience's attention drifting"
    2. (especially of snow or leaves) be blown into heaps by the wind:
      "fallen leaves were starting to drift in the gutters"
    noun
    drift (noun) · drifts (plural noun)
    1. a continuous slow movement from one place to another:
      "there was a drift to the towns"
      • 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"
      • a steady movement or development from one thing toward another that is perceived as unwelcome:
        "the drift toward a more market-oriented system of higher education"
      • a state of inaction or indecision:
        "after so much drift, any expression of enthusiasm is welcome"
    2. the general intention or meaning of an argument or someone's remarks:
      "maybe I'm too close to the forest to see the trees, if you catch my drift" · "he didn't understand much Greek, but he got her drift"
    3. a large mass of snow, leaves, or other material piled up or carried along by the wind:
      "four sheep were dug out of the drift"
      • geology
        glacial and fluvioglacial deposits left by retreating ice sheets.
      • a large mass of flowering plants growing together:
        "a drift of daffodils"
    4. mining
      a horizontal or inclined passage following a mineral vein or coal seam:
      "the drift led to another smaller ore chamber"
    Origin
    Middle English (in the sense ‘mass of snow, leaves, etc.’): originally from Old Norse drift ‘snowdrift, something driven’; in later use from Middle Dutch drift ‘course, current’, and (in drift) South African Dutch drift ‘ford’; related to drive.
    Translate drift to
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    Similar and Opposite Words
    verb
    1. be carried slowly by a current of air or water:
      float
      bob
      coast
      meander
      be carried
      be carried (away/along)
      be borne
      be wafted
      move slowly
      go with the current
    2. (especially of snow or leaves) be blown into heaps by the wind:
      pile up
      accumulate
      gather
      amass
      bank up
      heap up
      form heaps/drifts
    noun
    1. a continuous slow movement from one place to another:
      movement
      shift
      flow
      transfer
      transferral
      relocation
      gravitation
    2. the general intention or meaning of an argument or someone's remarks:
      gist
      essence
      core
      meaning
      sense
      thesis
      substance
      significance
      signification
      thrust
      import
      purport
      tenor
      vein
      spirit
      implication
      intention
      direction
      course
      tendency
      trend
    3. a large mass of snow, leaves, or other material piled up or carried along by the wind:
      pile
      heap
      bank
      mound
      mass
      accumulation
      dune
      ridge
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