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1828.mshaffer.com › Word [drift]
DRIFT, n. 1. That which is driven by wind or water, as drift seems to be primarily a participle. Hence,2. A heap of any matter driven together; as a drift of snow, called also a snow-drift; a drift of sand.3. A driving; a force impelling or urging forward; impulse; overbearing power or influence; as the drift of a passion.4. Course of any thing; tendency; aim; main force; as the drift of reasoning or argument; the drift of a discourse.5. Any thing driven by force, as a drift of dust; a log or a raft driven by a stream of water, without guidance.6. A shower; a number of things driven at once; as a drift of bullets.7. In mining, a passage cut between shaft and shaft; a passage within the earth.8. In navigation, the angle which the line of a ships motion makes with the nearest meridian, when she drives with her side to the wind and waves, and is not governed by the helm. Also, the distance which the ship drives on that line.9. The drift of a current, is its angle and velocity.DRIFT, v.i. 1. To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts.2. To float or be driven along by a current of water; as, the ship drifted astern; a raft drifted ashore.DRIFT, v.t. To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand.
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Evolution (or devolution) of this word [drift]
1828 Webster | 1844 Webster | 1913 Webster |
DRIFT, n. 1. That which is driven by wind or water, as drift seems to be primarily a participle. Hence,2. A heap of any matter driven together; as a drift of snow, called also a snow-drift; a drift of sand.3. A driving; a force impelling or urging forward; impulse; overbearing power or influence; as the drift of a passion.4. Course of any thing; tendency; aim; main force; as the drift of reasoning or argument; the drift of a discourse.5. Any thing driven by force, as a drift of dust; a log or a raft driven by a stream of water, without guidance.6. A shower; a number of things driven at once; as a drift of bullets.7. In mining, a passage cut between shaft and shaft; a passage within the earth.8. In navigation, the angle which the line of a ships motion makes with the nearest meridian, when she drives with her side to the wind and waves, and is not governed by the helm. Also, the distance which the ship drives on that line.9. The drift of a current, is its angle and velocity.DRIFT, v.i. 1. To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts.2. To float or be driven along by a current of water; as, the ship drifted astern; a raft drifted ashore.DRIFT, v.t. To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand. | DRIFT, n.1 [Dan. drift; from drive.]- That which is driven by wind or water, as drift seems to be primarily a participle. Hence,
- A heap of any matter driven together; as, a drift of snow, called also a snow-drift; a drift of sand.
- A driving; a force impelling or urging forward; impulse; overbearing power or influence; as, the drift of a passion.
- Course of any thing; tendency; aim; main force; as, the drift of reasoning or argument; the drift of a discourse.
- Any thing driven by force, as, a drift of dust; a log or a raft driven by a stream of water, without guidance. – Dryden.
- A shower; a number of things driven at once; as, a drift of bullets. – Shak.
- In mining, a passage cut between shaft and shaft; a passage within the earth. – Encyc. Fourcroy.
- In navigation, the angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the nearest meridian, when she drives with her side to the wind and waves, and is not governed by the helm. Also, the distance which the ship drives on that line. – Encyc.
- The drift of a current, is its angle and velocity. – Mar. Dict.
DRIFT, n.2In geology, a term applied to the loose unstratified materials, accumulated on the earth's surface; also called diluvium. DRIFT, v.i.- To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts.
- To float or be driven along by a current of water; as, the ship drifted astern; a raft drifted ashore.
DRIFT, v.t.To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand. | Drift
- A driving] a violent movement.
- 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.
- To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body.
- That causes drifting or
that is drifted; movable by wind or currents; as, drift
currents; drift ice; drift mud.
- 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.
- The act or motion of drifting; the force
which impels or drives; an overpowering influence or
impulse.
- To accumulate in heaps by the force of
wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand
drifts.
- To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind
drifts snow or sand.
- 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.
- Course or direction along which anything
is driven; setting.
- 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.
- 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.
- That which is driven, forced, or urged
along
- The horizontal thrust or
pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments.
- 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.
- In South Africa, a ford in a
river.
- 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 passage driven or cut
between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an
adit or tunnel.
- The
distance through which a current flows in a given time.
- 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.
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1828 Webster | 1844 Webster | 1913 Webster |
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Drift DRIFT, noun 1. That which is driven by wind or water, as drift seems to be primarily a participle. Hence, 2. A heap of any matter driven together; as a drift of snow, called also a snow-drift; a drift of sand. 3. A driving; a force impelling or urging forward; impulse; overbearing power or influence; as the drift of a passion. 4. Course of any thing; tendency; aim; main force; as the drift of reasoning or argument; the drift of a discourse. 5. Any thing driven by force, as a drift of dust; a log or a raft driven by a stream of water, without guidance. 6. A shower; a number of things driven at once; as a drift of bullets. 7. In mining, a passage cut between shaft and shaft; a passage within the earth. 8. In navigation, the angle which the line of a ships motion makes with the nearest meridian, when she drives with her side to the wind and waves, and is not governed by the helm. Also, the distance which the ship drives on that line. 9. The drift of a current, is its angle and velocity. DRIFT, verb intransitive 1. To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts. 2. To float or be driven along by a current of water; as, the ship drifted astern; a raft drifted ashore. DRIFT, verb transitive To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand.
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* As a note, I have purchased each of these products. In fact, as we have been developing the Project:: 1828 Reprint, I have purchased several of the bulky hard-cover dictionaries. My opinion is that the 2000-page hard-cover edition is the only good viable solution at this time. The compact edition was a bit disappointing and the CD-ROM as well. |
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