Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: NATURE

drift

1 verb
     
drift1 [intransitive]
1TTWTTA

move slowly

to move slowly on water or in the air
drift out/towards etc
The rubber raft drifted out to sea.
Smoke drifted up from the jungle ahead of us.
2

without plan

to move, change, or do something without any plan or purpose
drift around/along etc
Jenni spent the year drifting around Europe.
drift into
I just drifted into teaching, really.
drift away
The others drifted away. Melanie stayed.
let your gaze/eyes/thoughts/mind etc drift
Idly she let her eyes drift over his desk.
3

change

to gradually change from being in one condition, situation etc into another without realizing it
drift into
She was just drifting into sleep when the alarm went off.
4

money/prices

if values, prices, shares etc drift, they gradually change:
The dollar drifted lower against the yen today.
5DN

snow/sand

if snow, sand etc drifts, the wind blows it into large piles
6

let something drift

to allow something, especially something bad, to continue in the same way:
He couldn't let the matter drift for much longer.

drift apart

phrasal verb
if people drift apart, their relationship gradually ends:
Over the years my college friends and I have drifted apart.

drift off

phrasal verb
to gradually fall asleep:
I was just drifting off when the phone rang.
He felt himself drifting off to sleep.
Definition of drift from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic NATURE
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