drift

drift
{{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}}
noun
1 slow movement
ADJECTIVE
gradual, slow
leftward, rightward

He criticized the rightward drift of the party.

continental
PREPOSITION
drift (away) from

the drift of people away from rural areas into urban slums

drift (back) to

As the strike went on, there was a gradual drift back to work.

drift into

his drift into crime

drift towards/toward
2 general meaning of sth
ADJECTIVE
general, main
VERB + DRIFT
catch, follow, get

I didn't follow the speech exactly, but I caught the main drift of what was being said.

3 pile of snow/sand made by the wind
ADJECTIVE
deep
sand, snow (usually snowdrift)
{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}
verb
1 be carried along by the wind/water
ADVERB
slowly
helplessly

Cold and hungry, they drifted helplessly closer to the Arctic.

downstream

The boat drifted slowly downstream.

along, back, down, out, up, etc.

Smoke drifted up from the campfire.

PREPOSITION
from, to, towards/toward, etc.

They were drifting out to sea.

with

We drifted with the current.

2 move slowly/without purpose
ADVERB
aimlessly
gradually, slowly

Her gaze gradually drifted to the bookshelf.

quietly, silently
eventually, finally

He finally drifted back to his home town.

about (esp. BrE), around, back, down, round (esp. BrE), up, etc.

Voices drifted up through the floorboards.

apart, away, off

Over the years the two friends drifted apart.

VERB + DRIFT
begin to
seem to
allow sth to, let sth

He allowed his thoughts to drift back to his conversation with Carrie.

PREPOSITION
about (BrE), around, round (esp. BrE)

He spent the day drifting aimlessly around the house.

across

She drifted across the room to where we were standing.

between

She began to drift between sleep and wakefulness.

from

We seem to be drifting away from the point.

into

He drifted into teaching, but never really enjoyed it.

out of

He drifted in and out of consciousness.

PHRASAL VERB
drift off
ADVERB
gradually, slowly
PREPOSITION
into

He drifted off into a deep slumber.

PHRASES
drift off to sleep

She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Drift is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑attention, ↑boat, ↑breeze, ↑cloud, ↑continent, ↑conversation, ↑eye, ↑fog, ↑gaze, ↑mind, ↑mist, ↑music, ↑scent, ↑smell, ↑smoke, ↑snow, ↑snowflake, ↑word

Collocations dictionary. 2013.

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Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Drift — may mean: Contents 1 Film and literature 2 Geography 3 Industry …   Wikipedia

  • Drift — Drift, n. [From {drive}; akin to LG. & D. drift a driving, Icel. drift snowdrift, Dan. drift, impulse, drove, herd, pasture, common, G. trift pasturage, drove. See {Drive}.] 1. A driving; a violent movement. [1913 Webster] The dragon drew him… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • drift — [ drift ] n. m. • 1842; mot angl. ♦ Anglic. Géol. Dépôt laissé par le recul d un glacier. ● drift nom masculin (anglais drift, poussée) Transistor dans lequel la partie de la base en contact avec l émetteur est plus riche en électrons que le… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • drift — drift·age; drift; drift·er; drift·ing·ly; drift·land; drift·less; drift·less·ness; drift·man; spin·drift; spoon·drift; …   English syllables

  • Drift — Drift, a. That causes drifting or that is drifted; movable by wind or currents; as, drift currents; drift ice; drift mud. Kane. [1913 Webster] {Drift anchor}. See {Sea anchor}, and also {Drag sail}, under {Drag}, n. {Drift epoch} (Geol.), the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Drift — („Treiben“) bezeichnet: in ländlichen Gebieten einen Weg für den Viehtrieb in der Messtechnik einen sich kontinuierlich verändernden Messfehler in der Nachrichtentechnik eine langsame Änderung im Signalweg, siehe Drift (Nachrichtentechnik) in der …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Drift — Sf durch Wind erzeugte Strömung; unkontrolliertes Treiben per. Wortschatz fach. (14. Jh.) Entlehnung. Ursprünglich niederdeutsches Seemannswort aus einem ti Abstraktum zu treiben, also Entsprechung zu nhd. Trift. Neuere Bedeutungen hängen in der… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • drift — [drift] n. [ME (akin to ON & MDu drift, OHG trift) < OE drifan, DRIVE] 1. an act or instance of being driven or carried along, as by a current of air or water or by circumstances 2. the course on which something is directed or driven 3. the… …   English World dictionary

  • drift — drȉft m <N mn drìftovi> DEFINICIJA 1. pom. bočno zanošenje broda (zbog vjetra, morske struje itd.) 2. geogr. morska struja koja nastaje pod stalnim naletima vjetra 3. pren. predmeti (podrtine broda, ledeni bregovi itd.) koji plutaju morem… …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Drift — (Байрон Бей,Австралия) Категория отеля …   Каталог отелей

  • Drift — Drift, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Drifted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Drifting}.] 1. To float or be driven along by, or as by, a current of water or air; as, the ship drifted astern; a raft drifted ashore; the balloon drifts slowly east. [1913 Webster] We… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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