Noun

(en noun)

(label) Movement; that which moves or is moved.

# (label) A driving; a violent movement.

#* 1332 , (King Alisaunder) (1332)

The dragon drew him [self] away with drift of his wings.

# Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting.

#* (Richard Hakluyt) (c.1552-1616)

Our drift was south.

# That which is driven, forced, or urged along.

#*{{quote-book, year=1892, author=(James Yoxall)

, chapter=5, title= The Lonely Pyramid , passage=The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom.

# Anything driven at random.

#* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)

Some loga useless drift .

# A mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc., especially by wind or water.

#* (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)

Drifts of rising dust involve the sky.

#* Kane

We got the brig a good bed in the rushing drift [of ice].

# The distance through which a current flows in a given time.

# A drove or flock, as of cattle, sheep, birds.

#* (Thomas Fuller) (1606-1661)

cattle coming over the bridge (with their great drift doing much damage to the high ways)

# 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 retreat of continental glaciers, such as that which buries former river valleys and creates young river valleys.

#* 1867 , E. Andrews, "Observations on the Glacial Drift beneath the bed of Lake Michigan," American Journal of Science and Arts? , vol. 43, nos. 127-129, page 75:

It is there seen that at a distance from the valleys of streams, the old glacial drift usually comes to the surface, and often rises into considerable eminences.

# Driftwood included in flotsam washed up onto the beach.

The act or motion of drifting; the force which impels or drives; an overpowering influence or impulse.

* (Robert South) (1634–1716)

A bad man, being under the drift of any passion, will follow the impulse of it till something interpose.

A place (a ford) along a river where the water is shallow enough to permit crossing to the opposite side.

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.

* 1977 , (w), (The Canterbury Tales) , Penguin Classics, p. 316:

'Besides, you lack the brains to catch my drift . / If I explained you wouldn't understand.'

* (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)

He has made the drift of the whole poem a compliment on his country in general.

* Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)

Now thou knowest my drift .

(architecture) The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments.

(Knight)

(label) A tool.

# 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.

# A tool used in driving down compactly the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework.

A deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to oblong projectiles.

(label) A passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel.

(label) Movement.

# The angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the meridian, in drifting.

# The distance to which a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes.

# 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.

# The distance between the two blocks of a tackle.

# 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.

(label) A sideways movement of the ball through the air, when bowled by a spin bowler.

Noun

(countable) Something small enough to escape casual notice.

(uncountable) A profusion of details.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Timothy Garton Ash)

, volume=189, issue=6, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli , passage=Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail , a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.}}

Something considered trivial enough to ignore.

(countable) A person's name, address and other personal information.

(military) A temporary unit or assignment.

A part distinct from the whole.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)

, volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution , passage=WikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets. They also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies.}}

A narrative which relates minute points; an account which dwells on particulars.