1. Be in motion due to some air or water current
   "the boat drifted on the lake"; "the shipwrecked boat drifted away from the shore";
   - float, be adrift, blow
    
2. Move about aimlessly or without any fixed destination
   "the labourers drift from one town to the next";
   - roll, wander, swan [informal], stray, tramp, roam, cast, ramble, rove, range, vagabond [archaic]
    
3. Wander from a direct course or at random
   "don't drift from the set course";
   - stray, err
    
4. Vary or move from a fixed point or course
   "stock prices are drifting higher"
    
5. Move in an unhurried fashion
   "The unknown young man drifted among the invited guests"
    
6. Live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely
   "My son drifted around for years in California before going to law school";
   - freewheel
    
7. Cause to be carried by a current
   "drift the boats downstream"
    
8. Be subject to fluctuation
   "The stock market drifted upward"
    
9. Be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a current
   "snow drifting several feet high"; "sand drifting like snow"
    
10. Drive slowly and far afield for grazing
    "drift the cattle herds westwards"

1. The gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane)
   "The ship's drift in the strong current took it off course"
    
2. A large mass of material that is heaped up by the wind or by water currents
   "Snowdrifts blocked the roads after the blizzard"; "The beach was covered in drifts of seaweed after the storm"
    
3. A general tendency to change (as of opinion)
   "not openly liberal but that is the drift of the book";
   - trend, movement
    
4. The pervading meaning or tenor
   "caught the general drift of the conversation";
   - purport
    
5. A process of linguistic change over a period of time
   "The drift of the English language has led to significant changes in pronunciation over centuries"
    
6. (mining) a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine
   "they dug a drift parallel with the vein";
   - heading, gallery

Derived forms: drifted, drifts, drifting

Type of: accumulate, action, activity, amass, change, circulate, conglomerate, crop, cumulate, disposition, exist, float, gather, go, graze, inclination, linguistic process, live, locomote, mass, move, natural action, natural process, passageway, pasture, pile up, strain, subsist, survive, tendency, tenor, travel, vary

Encyclopedia: Drift, Kentucky