v.
   - be carried slowly by a current of air or water.
 - walk slowly or casually. 
▸move aimlessly or involuntarily into a certain situation or condition:
 Lewis and his father drifted apart.
 - (chiefly of snow) be blown into heaps by the wind.
 
n.
      - a continuous slow movement from one place to another. 
▸deviation from an intended course because of currents or winds.
 ▸Motor Racing  a controlled skid, used in taking bends at high speeds.
 ▸Brit. historical an act of driving cattle or sheep.
 - the general meaning of someone's remarks:
 he didn't understand much Greek, but he got her drift.
 - a large mass of snow or other material piled up by the wind. 
▸Geology  deposits left by retreating ice sheets.
 - a state of inaction or indecision.
 - Mining  a passage following a mineral vein or coal seam.
 - S. African a ford.
 
 
  Derivative
  
  Etymology
  ME: orig. from ON drift ‘snowdrift, something driven’; in later use from MDu. drift ‘course, current’, rel. to drive.