drift /ˈdrɪft/
 (vt.)使漂流,衝漂(vi.)漂流U漂流;C漂流物
 drift /ˈdrɪft/ 名詞
 連續變異,漂移,漂流,漂離
 drift
 漂移
 drift
 漂移
 Drift n.
 1. A driving; a violent movement.
    The dragon drew him [self] away with drift of his wings.   --King Alisaunder (1332).
 2. The act or motion of drifting; the force which impels or drives; an overpowering influence or impulse.
    A bad man, being under the drift of any passion, will follow the impulse of it till something interpose.   --South.
 3. Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting. “Our drift was south.”
 4. The tendency of an act, argument, course of conduct, or the like; object aimed at or intended; intention; hence, also, import or meaning of a sentence or discourse; aim.
    He has made the drift of the whole poem a compliment on his country in general.   -- Addison.
    Now thou knowest my drift.   --Sir W. Scott.
 5. That which is driven, forced, or urged along; as: (a) Anything driven at random.  “Some log . . . a useless drift.” --Dryden. (b) A mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc., esp. by wind or water; as, a drift of snow, of ice, of sand, and the like.
    Drifts of rising dust involve the sky.   -- Pope.
    We got the brig a good bed in the rushing drift [of ice].   --Kane.
 (c) A drove or flock, as of cattle, sheep, birds. [Obs.]
    Cattle coming over the bridge (with their great drift doing much damage to the high ways).   -- Fuller.
 6. Arch. The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments. [R.]
 7. Geol. A collection of loose earth and rocks, or boulders, which have been distributed over large portions of the earth's surface, especially in latitudes north of forty degrees, by the agency of ice.
 8. In South Africa, a ford in a river.
 9. Mech. A slightly tapered tool of steel for enlarging or shaping a hole in metal, by being forced or driven into or through it; a broach.
 10. Mil. (a) A tool used in driving down compactly the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework.   (b) A deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to oblong projectiles.
 11. Mining A passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel.
 12. Naut. (a) The distance through which a current flows in a given time. (b) The angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the meridian, in drifting. (c) The distance to which a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes. (d) The place in a deep-waisted vessel where the sheer is raised and the rail is cut off, and usually terminated with a scroll, or driftpiece. (e) The distance between the two blocks of a tackle.
 13. The difference between the size of a bolt and the hole into which it is driven, or between the circumference of a hoop and that of the mast on which it is to be driven.
 14. Phys. Geog. One of the slower movements of oceanic circulation; a general tendency of the water, subject to occasional or frequent diversion or reversal by the wind; as, the easterly drift of the North Pacific.
 15.  Aëronautics The horizontal component of the pressure of the air on the sustaining surfaces of a flying machine. The lift is the corresponding vertical component, which sustains the machine in the air.
 Note: ☞ Drift is used also either adjectively or as the first part of a compound. See Drift, a.
 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.
    We drifted o'er the harbor bar.   -- Coleridge.
 2. To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts.
 3. mining to make a drift; to examine a vein or ledge for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of metals or ores; to follow a vein; to prospect. [U.S.]
 Drift v. t.
 1. To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body.
 2. To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand.
 3. Mach. To enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift.
 Drift, a. That causes drifting or that is drifted; movable by wind or currents; as, drift currents; drift ice; drift mud.
 Drift anchor. See Sea anchor, and also Drag sail, under Drag, n.
 Drift epoch Geol., the glacial epoch.
 Drift net, a kind of fishing net.
 Drift sail. Same as Drag sail. See under Drag, n.
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 drift
      n 1: a force that moves something along [syn: impetus, impulsion]
      2: the gradual departure from an intended course due to
         external influences (as a ship or plane)
      3: a process of linguistic change over a period of time
      4: something that is heaped up by the wind or by water currents
      5: a general tendency to change (as of opinion); "not openly
         liberal but that is the trend of the book"; "a broad
         movement of the electorate to the right" [syn: trend, movement]
      6: general meaning or tenor; "caught the drift of the
         conversation" [syn: purport]
      7: a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine;
         "they dug a drift parallel with the vein" [syn: heading,
          gallery]
      v 1: be in motion due to some air or water current; "The leaves
           were blowing in the wind"; "the boat drifted on the
           lake"; "The sailboat was adrift on the open sea"; "the
           shipwrecked boat drifted away from the shore" [syn: float,
            be adrift, blow]
      2: wander from a direct course or at random; "The child strayed
         from the path and her parents lost sight of her"; "don't
         drift from the set course" [syn: stray, err]
      3: move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in
         search of food or employment; "The gypsies roamed the
         woods"; "roving vagabonds"; "the wandering Jew"; "The
         cattle roam across the prairie"; "the laborers drift from
         one town to the next"; "They rolled from town to town"
         [syn: roll, wander, swan, stray, tramp, roam,
         cast, ramble, rove, range, vagabond]
      4: vary or move from a fixed point or course; "stock prices are
         drifting higher"
      5: live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely; "My son drifted
         around for years in California before going to law school"
         [syn: freewheel]
      6: move in an unhurried fashion; "The unknown young man drifted
         among the invited guests"
      7: cause to be carried by a current; "drift the boats
         downstream"
      8: drive slowly and far afield for grazing; "drift the cattle
         herds westwards"
      9: be subject to fluctuation; "The stock market drifted upward"
      10: be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a
          current; "snow drifting several feet high"; "sand
          drifting like snow"