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Drift for Dummies

verb

pronunciation: drɪft

What does Drift really mean?

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Drift can sometimes feel like a complex word to understand, but don't worry, I'm here to help you break it down! Imagine you're at the beach, and the waves are gently hitting the shore. Now, what happens if you throw a little toy boat into the water? The boat starts to move, right? Well, that movement of the boat, going along with the water's flow, is a bit like what the word "drift" means.

To be precise, drift means to be carried or moved by an external force, usually without any control or intentional effort. Imagine you're outside on a windy day, and you're holding a feather. If you let go of the feather, what happens? The wind picks it up and carries it away, right? That's a bit like drifting. Just like the feather gets carried by the wind, something that drifts gets carried by something else, like air, water, or even thoughts!

But drifting can also be used to describe when someone or something starts to move in a direction that is not planned or intended. For example, have you ever tried to walk in a straight line without paying attention? You might find yourself slowly drifting to one side, and before you know it, you're walking in a completely different direction! That kind of unintentional movement is another way we can think of drifting.

So, to sum it up, when something or someone drifts, it means they are being carried or moved by an external force without any control or intention, or it can mean they are moving in a direction that is not planned or intended. It's a bit like being carried away by the wind or waves, or unintentionally veering off course while walking. I hope that makes sense! If you have any more questions or want more examples, feel free to ask.

Revised and Fact checked by Jack Taylor on 2023-10-28 10:44:47

Drift In a sentece

Learn how to use Drift inside a sentece

  • When you throw a ball in the air and it slowly falls back down without any force or direction, that is called a drift.
  • Imagine you are on a boat in the ocean and there is no wind or current pushing it. The boat would just float and move randomly, that is drift.
  • If you leave a toy car on a slope, it might slowly roll down without anyone pushing it. That rolling movement is called a drift.
  • Sometimes when people are daydreaming or not paying attention, their thoughts can drift away from the present moment.
  • In a snowy area, if the wind blows the snow and it builds up in one place, that pile of snow is formed by the drift.

Drift Synonyms

Words that can be interchanged for the original word in the same context.

be adrift be adrift blow blow cast cast err err float float freewheel freewheel gallery gallery heading heading impetus impetus impulsion impulsion movement movement purport purport ramble ramble range range roam roam roll roll rove rove stray stray stray stray swan swan tramp tramp trend trend vagabond vagabond wander wander

Drift Hypernyms

Words that are more generic than the original word.

accumulate accumulate action action activity activity amass amass change change circulate circulate conglomerate conglomerate crop crop cumulate cumulate disposition disposition exist exist float float force force gather gather go go go go go go graze graze inclination inclination linguistic process linguistic process live live locomote locomote locomote locomote locomote locomote mass mass move move move move move move natural action natural action natural process natural process passageway passageway pasture pasture pile up pile up strain strain subsist subsist survive survive tendency tendency tenor tenor travel travel travel travel travel travel vary vary

Drift Hyponyms

Words that are more specific than the original word.

drumlin drumlin evolutionary trend evolutionary trend gad gad gallivant gallivant gravitation gravitation jazz around jazz around leeway leeway maunder maunder melioration melioration snowdrift snowdrift stream stream tide tide waft waft

Drift Category

The domain category to which the original word belongs.

aeroplane aeroplane airplane airplane excavation excavation mining mining plane plane ship ship