▪ I. drift, n.
(drɪft)
[Early ME. drift (not recorded in OE.) corresp. to OFris. drift (in ur-drift), MDu., Du. drift, MHG. trift, G. trift passage for cattle, drove, ON. drift snow-drift, (Sw., Da. drift); verbal abstract from dr{iacu}fan to drive.]
I. The action of driving, etc.
1. a. The act of driving; propulsion, impulse, impetus. (Now rare or Obs. exc. as in b. or 2.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 496 (Gött.) Þar þai drey ful hard drift. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 76 A drift of wedir us droffe to Rome. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 132/1 Dryfte, or drywynge of bestys, minatus. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. 9 b, As the whele gothe by drifte of water. a 1716 South (J.), A man being under the drift of any passion, will still follow the impulse of it. 1721 Perry Daggenh. Breach 26 The Breach..was stop'd by..the drift of a Row of large Piles, drove near to each other. 1858 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIX. ii. 296 Sheep for the Smithfield Monday market had to leave their homes on the previous Wednesday or Thursday week. Such a long drift..caused a great waste of meat. |
b. Forest Law. The driving of the cattle within the precincts of a forest to one place on a particular day, for the determination of ownership, levying of fines, etc. (
Cf. drive v. 4 b.)
| 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 13 §4 It shalbe laufull to the said lordis owners and possessioners of the said forrestis and chaces..to make like drifte of the said forestis, chaces. 1598 J. Manwood Lawes Forest xv. §2 (1615) 105/1 The Officers of the Forest..did use to make two drifts of their Forest euery year. 1776 Customs Manor Epworth in Stonehouse Axholme (1839) 145 The Lord is entitled to make one drift of the commons, between May-day and Midsummer, in order to ascertain whose cattle are pasturing thereon. 1887 W. F. Collier Venville Rights on Dartmoor in Trans. Devonsh. Assoc. XIX. 382 The moor⁓man then proceeds to summon the venville tenants to join in the drift by blowing horns on the tors. 1894 Q. Rev. Apr. 418 Assisting at the ‘drifts’ in which the horned cattle and ponies are collected, branded, and the ‘strays’ returned to their owners. |
† c. Arch. The horizontal ‘thrust’ of an
arch.| 1772 Hutton Bridges 60 The thickness of the pier necessary to resist the drift of the arch. Ibid. 91 Drift, Shoot, or Thrust of an arch, is the push or force which it exerts in the direction of the length of the bridge. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 338. |
2. a. The fact or condition of being driven, as by a current; the action of drifting; a slow course or current. Also
fig. on or upon the drift = adrift.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 149 Beware dryft to the woorst shore. 1633 T. James Voy. 100 We considered where we might haue the cleerest drift..and let her driue. 1659 D. Pell Impr. Sea 305 Anchors give way, and so [ships] are most dreadfully put upon the drift. 1721 Perry Daggenh. Breach 75 A considerable Frost and drift of Ice..that Winter. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea §107 The effect of moderate winds..is to cause what may be called the drift of the sea rather than a current. Drift is confined to surface waters. 1886 Pall Mall G. 18 Feb. 11/1 There is a steady low-class labour drift into London. |
b. Naut. The deviation of a ship from its course in consequence of currents;
esp. in reference to its amount.
| 1671 Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 174 True Course, Drift and all Impediments allow'd, is, [etc.] 1793 Rennell in Phil. Trans. LXXXIII. 195 On the 31st of January, when lying to, 36 miles are allowed for 20 hours drift, to the north-west. 1859–62 Lewin Invas. Brit. 82 The maximum drift for a single tide [in the English Channel]..is eighteen miles, and the minimum nine miles. |
c. Gunnery. The constant deviation of an elongated rotating projectile in the direction of its rotation;
= derivation2.
| 1864 Daily Tel. 4 May, The hexagonal shot is far more limited with regard to lateral drift or deflection than the other two kinds of shot. 1867 in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. |
d. A slow variation of the characteristics or operation of an electric circuit or device. Also
attrib. orig. U.S.| 1889 in Cent. Dict. 1892 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. CXXXIV. 482 This magnification varies with the sensibility and is largest when the instrument is most sensitive. In galvanometer work this phenomenon is known as the ‘drift’ of the needles. 1931 Physical Rev. XXXVII. 396 This drift is normally very constant, so that an input current as small as 10—16 amp can be measured by noting the change in the rate of drift which it causes. 1932 Rev. Sci. Instruments III. 420 The degree to which the circuit is balanced is determined by noting the back and forth drift which a high sensitivity galvanometer will make, due to natural battery voltage fluctuations. 1962 Simpson & Richards Junction Transistors xiii. 310 The chief problem in the design of amplifiers to pass d.c. is to reduce slow changes in the operating conditions of the transistors to a minimum. These changes..are called drifts. 1963 B. Fozard Instrumentation Nucl. Reactors xi. 133 More commonly some form of automatic drift-correction circuit is used. 1970 J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers ii. 31 This..is in receipt of a stabilised voltage (to avoid tuning drift). |
e. Aeronaut. (
a)
= head resistance; (
b) the horizontal deviation of an aircraft from its course in consequence of winds and air-currents; also, the rate or amount of such deviation.
| 1891 O. Chanute Aerial Navigation 26 How much of this new pressure..opposes forward progress, and may be denominated drift. 1896 H. S. Maxim in J. Means Epitome of Aeronaut. Ann. (1910) 113 The aeroplane..in which the drift will go the greatest number of times into the lift will be considered the most satisfactory. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 25 Feb. 4/1 The daring plan of jumping off a hill 45 ft. high with the object of ascertaining the proportion between lift and drift. 1916 H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 2 There's Drift, my horizontal component, sometimes, though rather erroneously, called Head Resistance. Ibid. 57 The Drift..must be overcome by the Thrust in order to secure the necessary velocity to produce the requisite lift for flight. 1920 19th Cent. July 145 The object of camber is to obtain the maximum lift, and to reduce the drift. 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose ii. 41 We had about fifteen degrees of drift. 1968 G. D. P. Worthington Airline Instrument Fying xiii. 191 If drift has been correctly allowed for and time and rate of turn are correct, the aircraft should be on the correct track when it comes out of the turn. |
f. Astr. Orig., any group of stars having a random distribution of velocities;
usu. applied to a group of stars with an apparent systematic motion towards some point in the sky superimposed on their motion within the group, some or all of the nearest stars belonging to one or other of two such groups with opposite directions of motion.
| 1906 A. S. Eddington in Monthly Notices R. Astron. Soc. LXVII. 35, I define a ‘drift of stars’ to be a system of stars whose velocities relative to some system of axes are quite haphazard. Ibid. 40 Kapteyn..found this same disagreement, and pointed out the explanation—that there are really two drifts of stars. 1928 E. A. Fath Elem. Astron. (ed. 2) xv. 236 The motions of the stars in any drift are not along parallel lines... But when the group is taken as a whole it shows a decided group motion toward its vertex. 1938 W. M. Smart Stellar Dynamics iv. 106 In most regions of the sky it is found that one drift (drift I) is usually more prominent than the other. 1968 D. S. Evans Observ. Mod. Astron. iv. 137 The two drifts which describe the motion of stars relatively near the Sun are both considered to be in motion relative to the Sun. |
g. In the migration of birds: the influence of wind currents.
| 1918 Baxter & Rintoul in Ibis VI. 255 We do not consider that the direction of the wind, apart from its force, stops birds migrating... We believe that the deviation from the direct route is largely, perhaps mainly, due to drift. 1960 E. Ennion House on Shore v. 66 Their capture..has gone a long way to establish the reality of ‘Drift’. 1971 Nature 30 Apr. 580/2 Waders and waterfowl..frequently correct for drift in winds of moderate speed. |
h. Motor-racing. A controlled slide.
| 1955 Motor Trend Jan. 33, I steer into the drift, accelerating slightly. 1957 S. Moss In Track of Speed v. 61 He was a great exponent of the ‘drift’. He was always fastest out of a bend, having discovered the art of pointing the car to the ensuing straight before he was fully round. 1957 Life (U.S.) 15 Aug. 83/1 When Fangio puts his Maserati or Ferrari into a corner in a four-wheel drift (i.e., with all wheels skidding). |
3. fig. Natural or unconscious course, progress, process (of action, argument,
† time, etc.);
esp. in reference to direction or probable result: Tendency.
| 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Cor. 61 Since the drifte of myne epistle hath brought me to the visions and reuelacions of the Lorde Jesus. 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 46 Such a drifte of tyme was thear passed. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 5 That Epicurean doctrine, whose only drift is..to turne men from all religion. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace i. Wks. VIII. 173 The whole drift of their institution is contrary to that of the wise legislators of all countries. 1891 T. W. Reid Life Ld. Houghton I. x. 441 The general drift of affairs on the Continent. |
b. Philol. (See
quot. 1921.)
| 1921 E. Sapir Lang. vii. 165 The drift of a language is constituted by the unconscious selection on the part of its speakers of those individual variations that are cumulative in some special direction. 1926 Language II. 133 We find the same drift at work from analysis to synthesis, from monosyllabism to polysyllabism. 1961 L. F. Brosnahan Sounds of Lang. vii. 155 These great trends, or drifts.., are some of the most interesting phenomena of historical linguistics. |
4. a. The conscious direction of action or speech to some end; the end itself; what one is ‘driving at’; purpose, intention, object, aim. (Now
rare,
exc. in reference to speech or writing: see also b.)
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 168 b, To imagyn..what is the dryfte of y⊇ kynge in his parlyament. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. ix. xlviii. (1612) 223 Our drift (quoth he) a Conquest is. 1781 Cowper Let. 19 Oct., My sole drift is to be useful. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. iv. viii, The drift of the Maker is dark, an Isis hid by the veil. |
b. Meaning, purport, tenor, scope (of a speech or writing). Now the usual sense.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 Harde it is..to perceyue the processe and dryfte of this treatyse. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. vii. §17 The main drift and scope of these pamphlets..was to defame and disgrace the English Prelates. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man iii. i, I see the whole drift of your argument. 1868 Helps Realmah vi. (1876) 124, I cannot see the general drift and purpose of the story. |
† 5. A scheme, plot, design, device.
Obs.| 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 761 That drift was by the Queene not unwisely devised. 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 1462 Now wyll I contryue the dryft of an other playe. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 647 Beware that by their wily drifts thou perish not. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 193 Those..hallowed drifts, and everlasting well wishes for the happiness of..sinful man. |
† 6. Putting off, delay, procrastination. [
Cf. drive v. 22.]
Sc. Obs.| a 1558 Q. Mary Answ. Thomworth in Keith Hist. Ch. Scot. (1734) App. 102 (Jam.) Scho intendit na drift of tyme. 1591 R. Bruce Eleven Serm. v. 5 a (Jam.) Lang drift and delay of thinges hoped for. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 484 These promises..were to be performed againe Michaelmasse..But this day come he continued his drifts. |
II. That which is driven.
7. A number of animals driven or moving along in a body; a drove, herd, flock,
† flight (of birds),
† swarm (of bees). Rarely of persons.
Obs. or
dial.| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5840 Þar ran sixten men in a dryft. 1486 Bk. St. Albans F vj, A Dryft of tame Swyne. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 32 Cursit is the drift of thine Oxin. 1613 Bp. Hall Holy Panegyrick 45 Whole driftes of quailes. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 316 Marks of cattle having passed there, as if they had gone in drifts or droves. 1816 Scott Let. to Morritt 16 May in Lockhart, To think of carrying off a drift of my neighbour's sheep. 1828 Craven Dial., Drift, a drove of cattle. |
8. a. A shower (of rain, snow, dust, etc.) driven along by the wind; a driving mass.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22462 Þar sal fall dun fra þe lijft A blodi rain, a dreri drift. 1569 Satir. Poems Reform. x. 320 In snaw, sleit, drift, wind, froist, hailstanis and rane. 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 412 Our Thunder..Shall raine their drift of bullets on this Towne. 1725 Pope Odyss. viii. 128 Drifts of rising dust involve the sky. 1842 Tennyson Talking Oak ii, The city lies, Beneath its drift of smoke. 1886 Ruskin Præterita I. 290 Exposed to drift of rain under violent..wind. |
b. An accumulation of snow, sand, etc., driven together by the wind. (In
quot. 1645 applied to a bed or vein of metal.) Also
transf.| a 1300 Cursor M. 9932 Þis castel..quitter es þan snau drif[t]. a 1400–50 Alexander 1756 (Dubl. MS.) A flaw of fell snaw fallen..fro þe drifte. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 91 The sands by the fury of Tempests lies in great drifts. 1645 Quarles Sol. Recant. iv. 21 Hath Heaven enricht thy paynes with thriving drifts Of mighty Gold? 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 300 Meadows White with Drifts of Snow. 1865 Whittier Snow-bound 59 A smooth white mound the brush-pile showed, A fenceless drift what once was road. 1889 Daily News 12 Nov. 3/1 The apparent carelessness with which the folds have been drifted together..The drifts are held by clusters of ostrich feathers. 1893 Ibid. 10 Mar. 5/8 A drift of lovely lace fell over the large sleeves. |
c. A large mass of flowering plants (see
quot. 1966).
| 1908 G. Jekyll Colour in Flower Garden iii. 24 The word ‘drift’ conveniently describes the shape I have in mind, and I commonly use it in speaking of these long-shaped plantings. 1915 C. Mackenzie Guy & Pauline i. 38 Planting a drift of..deep yellow primroses. 1965 Listener 23 Sept. 461/2 All of these bulbs can be planted in drifts of hundreds at a time. 1966 J. Berrisford Wild Garden viii. 94 Plants and bulbs should be set informally in..‘drift-planting’—that is in ovals of irregular outline rather like cloud formations with one or two outliers a little way off so that they look as if sown by the wind. |
9. Floating matter driven by currents of water; a floating log, or mass of wood, etc. so driven. Also
fig.| 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 530 Foure leagues from the lande, you finde..many drifts of rootes, leaues of trees, [etc.]. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 43 A Drift is any thing floating in the sea that is of wood. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. clvi, Some log perhaps upon the waters swam, An useless drift. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Voy. to Eng. Wks. (Bohn) II. 11 We crept along through the floating drift of boards, logs, and chips. 1897 Daily News 3 May 4/1 They are not beggars..; they are merely human drift—men who live on ‘nuffin’. |
10. Geol. A term applied (
a) to any superficial deposit caused by a current of water or air; also (
b)
spec. (
the Drift) to Pleistocene deposits of glacial and fluvio-glacial detritus, also known as
boulder-clay, and
till; diluvium.
| 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxxvii. 509 Each region of the earth has its own superficial diluvia, produced by separate and distinct action; [for these] the unambiguous word drift is proposed. 1851 D. Wilson Preh. Ann. (1863) I. i. 30 Accumulations of marine and fresh water shingle and gravel called drift. 1865 Lubbock Preh. Times Pref. (1878) 1 The Flint Implements of the Drift. 1869 R. B. Smyth Goldf. Victoria 609 Drift, loose sand or a very loose friable alluvial deposit met with in some places close to the washdirt. 1882 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. vi. v. i. §1. 858 This ‘glacial drift’ spreads over the low ground of the glaciated districts. 1892 Gardiner Stud. Hist. Eng. 2 These Palæolithic men of the river drift. |
| fig. 1878 W. P. Roberts Law & God 44 In the Protestant drift may often be found..the implements of Rome. |
| attrib. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Plato Wks. (Bohn) I. 288 The mountain from which all these drift boulders were detached. 1865 Lubbock Preh. Times 323 This drift-age cone..is about twelve times as large as that now forming. 1872 W. S. Symonds Rec. Rocks iv. 113 The removal of the drift deposits allows the underlying rocks to become visible. |
b. drift-peat, a deposit of peat associated with a glacial drift.
| 1894 J. Geikie Gt. Ice Age (ed. 3) 308 The drift-peat and timber that underlie the Carse-deposits of the 45 to 50-ft. level. |
11. a. A set of fishing-nets.
b. A large kind of net used in the herring, pilchard, and mackerel fishery, extended by weights at the bottom and floats at the top, and allowed to drift with the tide; also called
drift-net (see 19 c).
| 1834 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xvii. (1857) 260 A complete drift of nets. 1844 W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scotl. (1855) 322 A drift of nets consists of from sixteen to twenty-six. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. (1858) 440 Not a herring swam so low as the upper baulk of our drift. |
† c. A fanciful name for a company of fishers.
| 1481 Bk. St. Albans F vj b, A Drifte of fishers. |
12. A series of piles driven in.
| 1721 Perry Daggenh. Breach 75 The said Drift of dove⁓tail'd Piles. Ibid. 90 A new Drift of Piles on the Thames side. |
13. Technical senses.
a. A tool used for driving or ramming something (
e.g. for driving piles).
b. A steel tool for enlarging or shaping a hole in a piece of metal; a drift-pin.
c. ‘A priming-iron used to clear the vent of ordnance from burning particles after each discharge’ (Smyth
Sailor's Word-bk.).
d. Ship-building (see 1st
quot. c 1850).
| 1552 Huloet, Drift, betle, or malle, to dryue pyles or stakes, fistuca. 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuilder's Assist. 164 Term-pieces; the finishing Pieces, or those which terminate the Drifts. 1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 77 Needles, Quadrants, Wooden Drifts. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 116 Drifts, those parts where the sheer is raised according to the heights of the decks or gangways, and where the rails are cut off and ended by scrolls. 1850 Weale Dict. Terms, Drift, a piece of hardened steel, notched at the sides and made slightly tapering..used for enlarging a hole in a piece of metal to a particular size by being driven through it. 1864 Webster, Drift, a tool used in driving down compactly the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework. 1874 [see drift-pin in 19 c.]. 1881 [see drift v. 6]. |
e. Ship-building. The difference between the size of a bolt and the hole into which it is driven, or between the circumference of a hoop and the circumference of the mast on which it is to be driven. (Ogilvie.)
| 1792 Trans. Soc. Arts X. 227 Being a bolt of two drifts, [it] could not be driven out. 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict. |
III. A course or way along which something is driven.
14. a. gen. A track.
poetic and
rare.
| a 1711 Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 182 Birds..passing through the airy Drift. |
b. (See
quot. 1811.)
| 1811 T. Davis Agric. Wilts. (ed. 2) 269 Drifts, the rows in which underwood is laid when felled. 1915 J. Buchan Thirty-Nine Steps vii. 165, I found shelter below an over-hanging rock..where a drift of dead brackens made a tolerable bed. 1927 Forestry I. 33 The normal procedure is to cut the coppice..in drifts 3 feet wide and from 4 to 6 feet apart. The young trees..are planted up the middle of the drifts. |
15. Mining, etc. A passage ‘driven’ or excavated horizontally, for working, exploration, ventilation, or draining;
esp. one driven in the direction of a mineral vein. See
driftway 3.
| 1653 E. Manlove Lead Mines 159 They may cause [to be] open'd Drifts, and Sumps. 1667 Primatt City & C. Build. 5 The conveniency of driving a drift or sough, from the bottom of the hills to the sole of the Rake. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 13 A Drift or Watercourse from the old Pits. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss. s.v., A drift follows the vein, as distinguished from a cross-cut, which intersects it, or a level or gallery, which may do either. |
16. A lane or road along which horses or cattle are driven;
= driftway 1.
local.
| 1686 Evelyn in 15th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 132 Why it should be made a common drift at all times, does not at all consist with..convenience. 1847–78 in Halliwell. 1865 W. White E. Eng. II. 79 I went..diagonally, across the wheatfield, and presently struck the ‘drift’, which has the appearance of an old pack-horse road. 1888 Rider Haggard Col. Quaritch i, The broad way that led to it..was a drift or grass lane. |
17. S. Africa. [a. col.
Du. drift.] A passage of a river; a ford.
| 1849 E. E. Napier Excurs. S. Africa II. 401 The road..crosses two or three ‘drifts’ or fords. 1852 F. Fleming Kaffraria (1854) 46 Where the road crosses a river, what is called a drift is made..by clearing the bed of the river of large stones, and cutting a sloping roadway through the banks on either side. 1856 C. J. Andersson Lake Ngami 320 The passage of the Orange river..at what is called Zendlings Drift, or the missionary ford. |
IV. 18. Naut. Length of rope paid out before a fastening is made; length that a tackle will reach from its fixed point; distance so estimated.
| 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 47 Allow a fathom drift..Bend it to the bunt becket, to allow the same drift as the buntlines. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 120 In ships with great drift between the fore and main yards, the boats are hoisted in..with the launches purchase. |
V. 19. attrib. and
Comb. a. gen., as
drift-borer (see 15),
drift-cloud,
drift-current,
drift-rail (see 13 d),
drift-rain,
drift-sand; (sense 2 g)
drift-migrant,
drift-migration;
drift-covered,
drift-strewn adjs. b. Geol. See 10 b.
| 1637 R. Humfrey tr. St. Ambrose ii. 13 The drift sand, pible stones and gravell lying on the shore. 1749 J. Smith Voy. Disc. II. 141 To go to the Bottom of the Bay to search for drift Fins [i.e. whales]. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §238 The dormant wedge or that with the point upward, being held in the hand, while the drift wedge or that with its point downward, was driven with a hammer. 1856 Househ. Words XIII. 544 Miners from Cornwall, drift borers from Wales. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket-bk. iv. (ed. 2) 102 The Drift Current is merely the effect of the wind on the surface of the water. 1952 Scottish Naturalist LXIV. 12 If a drift-migrant could continue on the wing indefinitely it would pass from one weather system to another. 1959 Listener 22 Jan. 160/1 The average drift-migrants that make a landfall are not necessarily lost. 1960 Brit. Birds LIII. 325 (heading) Autumn ‘drift-migration’ on the English east coast. |
c. Special combs.:
drift-anchor, a floating wooden frame or the like, used to keep the ship's head to the wind in a gale or when dismasted (called also
drag-,
sea-anchor);
drift-angle, (
a)
Naval Arch., the angle of lee-way (see
lee-way); (
b)
Aeronaut. (see
quots. 1951 and 1967);
drift-boat, a boat for fishing with a drift-net;
drift-bolt (earlier
drive-bolt): see
quot.;
drift-bottle, a bottle used for the charting of ocean-currents;
drift-fish, fish taken with a drift-net; so
drift-fisher,
drift-fishery,
drift-herring,
drift-sprat;
drift-indicator Aeronaut., a device for indicating drift (see sense 2 e, above);
drift-keel = bilge-keel;
drift-mining, gold-mining carried on by making drifts (sense 15) along the detrital material in the channels of former rivers, now covered by more recent deposits;
drift-net = sense 11 b (also
attrib.);
drift-netter, one who fishes with a drift-net; so
drift-netting;
drift-piece (see
quot. 1850 and sense 13 d);
drift-pile Canad., a pile of drift-wood in a river, etc.;
drift-pin,
drift-punch = sense 13 b;
drift plate or
sight Aeronaut. = drift-indicator;
drift-road = driftway 1;
drift-sail (see
quot. 1627);
drift-timber = drift-wood;
drift-weed, (
a) sea-weed drifted on shore by the waves; also
fig.; (
b) a name for the gulf-weed (
Sargassa baccifera) and tangle (
Laminaria digitata);
† drift-wind, a wind that drives or impels (
obs.). Also
drift-ice,
-way, -wood.
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Drift-anchor. 1881 Times 27 Apr. 6/4 She had lost both her masts, and was riding to a drift anchor. |
| 1882 W. H. White Man. Naval Arch. (ed. 2) xiv. 621 The angle between this tangent and the keel-line, or ‘*drift-angle’, (angle de dérive) as it is termed, gradually increases. 1906 E. L. Attwood War-Ships (ed. 2) 237 At the point P, where OP is drawn perpendicular to the centre line of the ship, there is no drift angle, as the tangent to the circle through P is the centre line of the ship. 1935 C. G. Burge Complete Bk. Aviation 264/1 Drift-angle sight, an instrument for determining the drift-angle. 1951 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) III. 6 Drift angle, the angle, at any instant, between the longitudinal axis of an aircraft and the track. 1967 Gloss. Terms Air-Cushion Vehicles (B.S.I.) 6 Drift angle, the angle, in the horizontal plane, between the longitudinal axis of an ACV and the instantaneous true direction of motion relative to the local meridian. |
| 1851 Offic. Catal. Gt. Exhib. II. 800 Model of..the new Mevagissey *drift and fishing boat. 1883 Leisure Hour 697/2 A drift-boat carries from eight to twenty nets. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Drift-bolts, commonly made of steel, are used as long punches for driving out other bolts. |
| 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., *Drift-bottle. 1912 Murray & Hjort Depths of Ocean v. 261 In order to study the currents, drift-bottles have..been used, in which are enclosed slips of paper with directions to the finder. Ibid. 262 (caption) Results of Dr. Fulton's drift-bottle experiments in the North Sea. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. IX. 252/1 Even slow surface currents have been observed and measured by the drift of debris or drift bottles. |
| 1864 Glasgow Daily Herald 24 Sept., I have sold *drift-fish for 12s...both drift herring and trawled herring would be selling for 8s. |
| Ibid., I was a trawler when trawling was permitted, and a *drift fisher as well. |
| 1919 H. Shaw Text-Bk. Aeronaut. xiii. 169 There are two types of *drift indicator, one of which is designed for..indicating leeway over the surface of the ground.., while the other is intended to indicate whether or not the machine is flying head to wind. |
| 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. ii. 43 Side-keels..[also] known as ‘*drift-keels’, ‘auxiliary-keels’, ‘bilge-keels’. |
| 1848 C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 43 At nightfall the nets are set either across or parallel to the tide and suffered to drift with it, hence they are called ‘*drift nets’. 1885 Times 25 May 9 Line and drift-net fishermen. |
| 1889 Cent. Dict., *Drift-netter. 1913 Q. Rev. Apr. 438 Its rapid extension so alarmed the drift-netters that an agitation was started against it. |
| Ibid., *Drift-netting is carried on by both steamers and sailing vessels. 1963 Times 18 May 11/1 Already there are signs that the prohibition of drift-netting will result in increased river catches. |
| 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuilder's Assist. 75 Term Pieces or *Drift Pieces sided. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 116 Drift-pieces, solid pieces, fitted at the drifts, to form the scrolls. |
| 1927 A. P. Woollacott Mackenzie & his Voyageurs 37 Log-jams and *drift-piles are numerous and troublesome. 1968 R. M. Patterson Finlay's River 103 They found the river very swift and badly obstructed by driftpiles—dangerous piled-up jams of dead and uprooted trees. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Drift-pin, a hand tool of metal driven into a hole to shape it; as the drift which makes the square socket in the watch-key. |
| 1935 C. G. Burge Complete Bk. Aviation 475/1 There are many instruments in use to-day for determining this [sc. windage], the oldest being the *drift plate..and the most modern..the tail drift sight. |
| 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. x. 198 When the holes are badly punched the workman drives in a steel *drift-punch..and the plate is thus forced and torn and the holes enlarged. |
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vii. 31 A *Drift saile is onely vsed vnder water..to keepe the Ships head right vpon the Sea in a storme, or when a ship driues too fast in a current. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Drift-sail..is generally used by fishermen, especially in the North-sea. |
| 1935 *Drift sight [see drift plate above]. 1940 ‘N. Shute’ Old Captivity vii. 218 The pilot sat hunched at the wheel,..glancing from time to time down through the drift sight. |
| 1850 Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. II. 140 To visit the mouths of the Mississippi, and see the banks of sand, mud, and *drift timber, recently formed there. |
| 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. x. (1879) 220 The high-water mark of *drift-weed on a sea-beach. 1906 Somerville & ‘Ross’ Irish Yesterdays 223 She belonged to the drift-weed of the household. 1909 Daily Chron. 14 June 9/2 These dreadful drift-weeds of the great city. |
| 1612 Two Noble K. v. iii, Waters, That *drift-winds force to raging. |
Add:
[V.] [19.] [c.] drift mine, any mine reached by a drift (sense 15 above) from the surface.
| 1882 *Drift mine [see mine n. 1 a]. 1972 Daily Tel. 12 Feb. 2/3 Their social club's central heating system..had been stoked by coal bought from a local privately-owned drift mine. |
drift mining (examples).
| 1877 R. W. Raymond 8th Rep. Statistics of Mines (U.S. Treasury Dept.) 44 At Central Hill the *drift-mining claims have been steadily worked with varied success. 1889 H. Greene Coal & Coal Mines vii. 82 The day of drift mining in the anthracite regions has gone by. 1976 Nature 29 Apr. 739/3 Geological conditions are sufficiently favourable to allow extraction using ‘drift mining’ techniques, involving production through a single sloping tunnel rather than multiple vertical shafts. |
▪ II. drift, v. [f. prec. n.] 1. a. intr. To move as driven or borne along by a current; to float or move along with the stream or wind;
= drive v. 26.
b. Of snow, sand, etc.: To collect in heaps driven together by the wind.
| ? a 1600 Robin Hood 61 Cam dryfting owyr the ley. 1762 Falconer Shipwr. ii. 185 Drifting fast on Grecia's rocky strand. 1828 Scott F. M. Perth xxiv, We must let her drift with the current. 1869 Phillips Vesuv. iii. 67 Columns of smoke and ashes which drifted to the south-east. 1894 J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 66 Beds of sand, which drift like snow. |
c. transf. and
fig. To move or pass passively or aimlessly; to be carried involuntarily or without effort in some course or into some condition. Also (
colloq.), to go away, get out; to come or go casually; to wander;
freq. with adverbs, as
to drift around,
drift by,
drift in,
drift out;
to drift apart, of a man and a woman: gradually to lose mutual affection, etc.
| 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. i. (1869) 8 Drift with the tide of nonsense. 1864 ‘Mark Twain’ in Harte & ‘Twain’ Sketches (1926) 122 She can calculate on my drifting around in the course of an hour or so. 1865 R. W. Dale Jew. Temp. xi. (1877) 121 They..were fast drifting towards apostasy. 1874 ‘Mark Twain’ & Warner Gilded Age I. ix. 119 A week drifted by, and all the while the patient sank lower and lower. 1876 ― Tom Sawyer xxxii. 274 Villagers filed through Judge Thatcher's house..and drifted out raining tears all over the place. 1885 Manch. Exam. 30 Mar. 5/2 Content to let things drift. 1898 M. Deland Old Chester Tales 43 Peter, with a pretty girl on his arm, drifted in out of the windy and rainy darkness. 1903 Red Book July 278/1 Ralph and I had drifted apart years before. 1908 [see drifter e]. 1910 Wodehouse Psmith in City vi. 46 Let us drift aside into this teashop. 1925 [see drifter e]. 1942 R. Chandler High Window (1943) ix. 70 ‘Beat it,’ he said. ‘Drift.’ Ibid. xix. 134 So speak your piece and drift away. 1945 Coast to Coast 1944 3 Early spectators were drifting in. 1954 ‘N. Blake’ Whisper in Gloom i. vi. 83 Well, I'll be drifting. 1958 Hayward & Harari tr. Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago ix. 255 Tonya and I have never drifted apart and this year of work has brought us even closer together. |
2. a. trans. To drive or carry along, as by a current of water or air; to blow into heaps (snow, sand, etc.).
| a 1618 Sylvester Mem. Mortalitie ii. iv, Time flits as Winde..Who knowes what ills it every moment drifteth. 1748 F. Smith Voy. Disc. I. 166 In Places where the Snow is drifted by the Wind. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iv. 334 Into civil war the nation had no intention of permitting themselves to be drifted. 1869 E. A. Parker Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 296 Can malaria be drifted to the place in any way? |
b. To allow or cause (a fishing-net or -line) to be borne by the current. Also
absol.| 1850 N. Kingsley Diary 21 Apr. (1914) 118 [We] drifted the seine across the river and floated down with the current. Ibid. 119 They drifted once more and made up the number of 51 salmon. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 29 Nov. 3/1 By casting or ‘drifting’ the dry-fly on a long line down stream to the fish. 1963 K. Mansfield Anglers' Dict. 51 For bass the best tactics are to anchor up-tide from some buoy, quay or wharf which bass are likely to visit and drift the line down to them. 1971 Angling Times 10 June 3 Colin drifted his peeler crab bait around the rocks on float tackle. |
c. To drive (cattle or horses) slowly (see
quot. 1893). Also with
in.
U.S.| 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict. 555/3 Drift, to drive cattle slowly, letting them feed as they go. 1903 A. Adams Log of Cowboy iv. 51 The Rebel and Blades were following, to drift in what cattle we had held on our left. Ibid. vii. 85 We were drifting them back towards the trail. 1920 J. M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas 50 [They said] they would drift the horses along with two outfits instead of four. |
3. trans. To cover with drifts (of snow, etc.); also
intr. for refl. to become covered with drifts.
| a 1851 Moir Poems, Birth Flowers xvii, When Winter drifts the fields With snow. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 250 The sides of the road were drifted with heaps of wild hawthorn and honeysuckle. 1892 W. Pike Barren Gr. N. Canada 105 Our tracks had drifted up. |
† 4. trans. To put off, delay, defer;
= drive v. 22.
Sc. Obs.| 1584 J. Carmichael Let. in Wodr. Soc. Misc. (1844) 434 To drift time awhile. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech., Confession 3 To drifte to do pœnance for oure sinnes quhil the houre of deathe. 1619 Z. Boyd Last Battell (1629) 237 (Jam.) If thou delay and drift him vntill morrow. |
† 5. To drive at, aim at, try to effect.
Obs.| 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. xii. lxix. (1612) 291 Not sooner Dorcas had deuis'd, but Elenor it drifts. Ibid., Epitome, Which Elfrick..drifted the murther of King Edmund. a 1618 Sylvester Cup of Consolation 16 Dark Limbo's Potentate Drifts Man's destruction. |
6. Mech. To form or enlarge (a hole) with a drift (
drift n. 13 b.)
| 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xix. 415 Drifting unfair holes would be considered bad work. 1881 Greener Gun 251 The hole is drifted from round to square by knocking in different-sized drifts. |
7. (
Mining.)
intr. To excavate a drift (see
drift n. 15);
trans., to excavate a drift in;
= drive v. 10.
| 1864 in Webster. 1872 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 179 They have sunk a shaft..over 50 feet, and intend to go to a depth of 200, drifting east and west at 100 feet. 1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 524/1 It is tunnelled or ‘drifted’ as in one of the hill-side mines. |
Hence
ˈdrifted ppl. a.| 1726–46 Thomson Winter 285 Impatient flouncing through the drifted heaps. 1778 T. Hutchins Descr. Virginia &c. 31 The Channel is obstructed with..Islands, formed by trees and drifted wood. 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 47 Struggling through the drifted roads. 1882 Daily Tel. 4 May, Sprung landings held with unfair or drifted holes. |