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Drift vs Drag - What's the difference?

drift | drag |

In nautical terms the difference between drift and drag

is that drift is movement while drag is the difference between the speed of a screw steamer under sail and that of the screw when the ship outruns the screw; or between the propulsive effects of the different floats of a paddle wheel.

In intransitive terms the difference between drift and drag

is that drift is to accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps while drag is to move slowly.

In transitive terms the difference between drift and drag

is that drift is to drive into heaps while drag is to pull along a surface or through a medium, sometimes with difficulty.

drift

English

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.
  • Derived terms

    * driftage * driftal * drift-anchor * drift-bolt * drift-current * drift ice * driftland * driftless * drift-mining * drift-net * drift-sail * driftway * driftweed * driftwood * drifty

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (label) To move slowly, especially pushed by currents of water, air, etc.
  • *, chapter=11
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=One day I was out in the barn and he drifted in. I was currying the horse and he set down on the wheelbarrow and begun to ask questions.}}
  • (label) To move haphazardly without any destination.
  • (label) To deviate gently from the intended direction of travel.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=January 15, author=Saj Chowdhury, work=BBC
  • , title= Man City 4-3 Wolves , passage=Midway through the half, Argentine Tevez did begin to drift inside in order to exert his influence but by this stage Mick McCarthy's side had gone 1-0 up and looked comfortable.}}
  • (label) To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body.
  • (label) To drive into heaps.
  • (label) To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps.
  • 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.
  • To enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift.
  • To oversteer a vehicle, causing loss of traction, while maintaining control from entry to exit of a corner. See .
  • Derived terms

    * bedrift * drift along * drift apart * drift off

    drag

    English

    (wikipedia drag)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) . More at (l).

    Verb

  • To pull along a surface or through a medium, sometimes with difficulty.
  • To move slowly.
  • To act or proceed slowly or without enthusiasm; to be reluctant.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= James R. Carter
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Flowers and Ribbons of Ice , passage=Dragging yourself out of a warm bed in the early hours of a wintry morning to go for a hike in the woods: It’s not an easy thing for some to do, but the visual treasures that await could be well worth the effort. If the weather conditions and the local flora are just right, you might come across fleeting, delicate frozen formations sprouting from certain plant stems, literally a garden of ice.}}
  • To move onward heavily, laboriously, or slowly; to advance with weary effort; to go on lingeringly.
  • * Byron
  • The day drags through, though storms keep out the sun.
  • * Gay
  • Long, open panegyric drags at best.
  • To draw along (something burdensome); hence, to pass in pain or with difficulty.
  • * Dryden
  • have dragged a lingering life
  • To serve as a clog or hindrance; to hold back.
  • * Russell
  • A propeller is said to drag when the sails urge the vessel faster than the revolutions of the screw can propel her.
  • (computing) To move (an item) on the computer display by means of a mouse or other input device.
  • To inadvertently rub or scrape on a surface.
  • To perform as a drag queen or drag king.
  • (soccer) To hit or kick off target.
  • * November 17 2012 , BBC Sport: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham [http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20278355]
  • Arsenal were struggling for any sort of rhythm and Aaron Lennon dragged an effort inches wide as Tottenham pressed for a second.
  • To fish with a dragnet.
  • To break (land) by drawing a drag or harrow over it; to harrow.
  • (figurative) To search exhaustively, as if with a dragnet.
  • * Tennyson
  • while I dragged my brains for such a song
    Derived terms
    * drag one's feet * dragline * what the cat dragged in

    Noun

  • (uncountable) Resistance of the air (or some other fluid) to something moving through it.
  • When designing cars, manufacturers have to take drag into consideration.
  • (countable, foundry) The bottom part of a sand casting mold.
  • (countable) A device dragged along the bottom of a body of water in search of something, e.g. a dead body, or in fishing.
  • (countable, informal) A puff on a cigarette or joint.
  • (countable, slang) Someone or something that is annoying or frustrating; an obstacle to progress or enjoyment.
  • Travelling to work in the rush hour is a real drag .
  • * J. D. Forbes
  • My lectures were only a pleasure to me, and no drag .
  • (countable, slang) Someone or something that is disappointing.
  • (countable, slang) Horse-drawn wagon or buggy.
  • (Thackeray)
  • (countable, slang) Street, as in 'main drag'.
  • (countable) The scent-path left by dragging a fox, for training hounds to follow scents.
  • to run a drag
  • (countable, snooker) A large amount of backspin on the cue ball, causing the cue ball to slow down.
  • A heavy harrow for breaking up ground.
  • A kind of sledge for conveying heavy objects; also, a kind of low car or handcart.
  • a stone drag
  • (metallurgy) The bottom part of a flask or mould, the upper part being the cope.
  • (masonry) A steel instrument for completing the dressing of soft stone.
  • (nautical) The difference between the speed of a screw steamer under sail and that of the screw when the ship outruns the screw; or between the propulsive effects of the different floats of a paddle wheel.
  • Anything towed in the water to retard a ship's progress, or to keep her head up to the wind; especially, a canvas bag with a hooped mouth (drag sail), so used.
  • A skid or shoe for retarding the motion of a carriage wheel.
  • Motion affected with slowness and difficulty, as if clogged.
  • * Hazlitt
  • Had a drag in his walk.
    Derived terms
    * drag race * main drag

    Etymology 2

    Possibly from (etyl) Douglas Harper, "camp (n.)" in Online Etymology Dictionary , 2001ff

    Noun

    (-)
  • (uncountable, slang) Women's clothing worn by men for the purpose of entertainment.
  • He performed in drag .
  • (uncountable, slang) Any type of clothing or costume associated with a particular occupation or subculture.
  • corporate drag
    Derived terms
    * drag king * drag queen * drag show

    References

    * Flight, 1913, p. 126] attributing to [[w:Archibald Low, Archibald Low] *