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drift
drift / drift/ • v. [intr.] 1. be carried slowly by a current of air or water: the cabin cruiser started to drift downstream | fig. excited voices drifted down the hall. ∎ (of a person) walk slowly, aimlessly, or casually: people began to drift away. ∎ move passively, aimlessly, or involuntarily into a certain situation or condition: I was drifting off to sleep | Lewis and his father drifted apart. ∎ (of a person or their attention) digress or stray to another subject: I noticed my audience's attention drifting. 2. (esp. of snow or leaves) be blown into heaps by the wind: fallen leaves start to drift in the gutters | [as adj.] (drifting) drifting snow. • n. 1. [in sing.] a continuous slow movement from one place to another: there was a drift to the towns. ∎ the deviation of a vessel, aircraft, or projectile from its intended or expected course as the result of currents or winds: the pilot had not noticed any appreciable drift. ∎ a steady movement or development from one thing toward another, esp. one that is perceived as unwelcome: the drift toward a more repressive style of policing. ∎ a state of inaction or indecision: after so much drift, any expression of enthusiasm is welcome. 2. [in sing.] the general intention or meaning of an argument or someone's remarks: he didn't understand much Greek, but he got her drift. 3. a large mass of snow, leaves, or other material piled up or carried along by the wind. ∎ Geol. glacial and fluvioglacial deposits left by retreating ice sheets. ∎ a large mass of flowering plants growing together: a drift of daffodils. 4. Mining a horizontal or inclined passage following a mineral vein or coal seam. DERIVATIVES: drift·y adj. |
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"drift." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "drift." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-drift.html "drift." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-drift.html |
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drift
drift deposit of mixed clay, gravel, sand, and boulders transported and laid down by glaciers. Stratified, or glaciofluvial, drift is carried by waters flowing from the melting ice of a glacier. The flowing water sorts the particles, generally depositing layers of coarser particles nearer the point of origin. Till, or boulder clay, which makes up the greater part of the drift, is unstratified, consisting of disorganized heaps of rocks that range widely in size. Till is deposited directly by the glacier itself without water transport. The drift may take the form of a drumlin , a kame , an esker , a moraine , or an outwash plain; its thickness varies noticeably from place to place and is not dependent upon topographical factors. Presence of drift proved useful in establishing the existence of time periods when large parts of the surface of continents were covered with glaciers (see glacial periods ). Large sections of continental Europe and North America are covered by drift. |
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"drift." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "drift." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-drift.html "drift." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-drift.html |
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drift
drift.
1. The distance a vessel makes to leeward, by the action of either the tide or the wind. 2. The term used to indicate the rate in knots of ocean currents, as for example for the ‘west wind drift’ which circles the globe in southern latitudes under the influence of the Roaring Forties. 3. The distance a shell fired from a rifled barrel deviates from its aimed trajectory because of the rotation imparted to it by the rifling, a matter that used to be of considerable importance in the days when big naval guns were fired long distances at sea. 4. The accumulation of pieces of wood, trunks of trees, etc., or fragments of small ice broken away from the edges of icefields, collected together by the action of wind or current and lying on the surface in a mass. |
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"drift." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "drift." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-drift.html "drift." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-drift.html |
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drift
drift
1. Any sediment laid down by, or in association with, the activity of glacial ice. The term is often widened to include related submarine and lacustrine deposits. The British Geological Survey has used it to refer to all superficial (i.e. draft) deposits. It was introduced by C. Lyell (1797–1875), who suggested that glacial deposits were laid down by melting icebergs which drifted across an ice-age sea covering Britain. This old term is now largely superseded by more recent classifications. 2. (Instrumental) The change in the output of a recording device due to internal factors. Systematic drift can be compensated for by repeat readings at a base station. |
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AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "drift." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "drift." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-drift.html AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "drift." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-drift.html |
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Drift
Drifta number of animals driven or moving along in a body; a mass of matter driven forward. See also creaght, drive. Examples: drift of anglers; of bees; of birds; of cattle, 1613; of dust, 1725; of fishers—Bk. of St. Albans, 1486; of fishing nets, 1834; of gold, 1645; of hogs; of ice; of lace, 1889; of leaves of trees, 1600; of men, 1450; of oxen, 1552; of piles, 1721; of quailes, 1613; of rain, 1300; of sand, 1634; of sheep, 1816; of smoke, 1842; of snow, 1300; of swans; of swine [tame]—Bk. of St. Albans, 1486; of wood [floating in the sea], 1627. |
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"Drift." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Drift." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505300565.html "Drift." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505300565.html |
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drift
drift The British Geological Survey has used this term to refer to all superficial (i.e. drift) deposits (see drift map). Sometimes the term has been used to describe any sediment laid down by, or in association with, the activity of glacial ice and it is often widened to include related submarine and lacustrine deposits. The word was introduced by C. Lyell (1797–1875), who suggested that glacial deposits were laid down by melting icebergs which drifted across an ice-age sea covering Britain. This old term is now largely superseded by more recent classifications.
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MICHAEL ALLABY. "drift." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "drift." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-drift.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "drift." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-drift.html |
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drift
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T. F. HOAD. "drift." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "drift." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-drift.html T. F. HOAD. "drift." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-drift.html |
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drift
drift drift n. the deviation of a vessel, aircraft, or projectile from its intended or expected course as the result of currents or winds: the pilot had not noticed any appreciable drift.
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"drift." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "drift." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-drift.html "drift." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-drift.html |
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drift
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JAMES STEVENS CURL. "drift." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES STEVENS CURL. "drift." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-drift.html JAMES STEVENS CURL. "drift." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-drift.html |
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drift
drift See GENETIC DRIFT.
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MICHAEL ALLABY. "drift." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL ALLABY. "drift." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-drift.html MICHAEL ALLABY. "drift." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-drift.html |
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drift
drift
•Taft
•abaft, aft, craft, daft, draft, draught, engraft, graft, haft, kraft, raft, shaft, understaffed, unstaffed, waft
•backdraft • handcraft • aircraft
•stagecraft • spacecraft • statecraft
•needlecraft • priestcraft • witchcraft
•kingcraft • handicraft • woodcraft
•Wollstonecraft • bushcraft
•watercraft • hovercraft • crankshaft
•camshaft • layshaft • driveshaft
•turboshaft • countershaft
•bereft, cleft, deft, eft, heft, klepht, left, reft, theft, weft
•adrift, drift, gift, grift, lift, rift, shift, shrift, sift, squiffed, swift, thrift, uplift
•airlift, chairlift, stairlift
•facelift • skilift • shoplift • Festschrift
•spendthrift • spindrift • snowdrift
•makeshift • downshift • upshift
•aloft, croft, loft, oft, soft, toft
•hayloft • Ashcroft • Cockcroft
•undercroft • Lowestoft
•tuft, unstuffed
•Delft
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"drift." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "drift." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-drift.html "drift." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-drift.html |
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