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er rounded or not, that has been transported by natural agencies from its native bed. See Drift. Bowlder clay, the unstratified clay deposit of the Glacial or Drift epoch, often containing large numbers of bowlders. -- Bowlder wall, a wall constructed of large stones or bowlders.

be pressed through irregular holes in metal that cannot be dressed by revolving tools; a drift.

Mist; fog; vapors. "The drifting brume." Longfellow.

To drift in a current with an anchor out.

To drift sidewise or to leeward, as a vessel. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Lost; adrift; hence, wanting; careless; neglectful; unfaithful. They easily prevailed, so as to seize upon the vacant, unoccupied, and derelict minds of his [Chatham's] friends; and instantly they turned the vessel wholly out of the course of his policy. Burke. A government which is either unable or unwilling to redres…

dragged by a vessel through the water in order to keep her head to the wind or to prevent drifting; -- called also drift sail, drag sheet, drag anchor, sea anchor, floating anchor, etc. -- Drag twist (Mining), a spiral hook at the end of a rod for cleaning drilled holes.

In type founding and forging, an impression or matrix, formed by a punch drift.

A drift; a tool for setting bolts home.

Tendency; drift. [R.]

A road for driving cattle; a driftway. [Eng.]

A hill of compact, unstratified, glacial drift or till, usually elongate or oval, with the larger axis parallel to the former local glacial motion.

A low hill of drifting sand usually formed on the coats, but often carried far inland by the prevailing winds. [Written also dun.] Three great rivers, the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt, had deposited their slime for ages among the dunes or sand banks heaved up by the ocean around their mouths. Motley.…

f surrounding, or the state of being surrounded; circumvention. By this encompassment and drift of question. Shak.

Contrived with care; ingenious. [Obs.] The mark of all enginous drifts. B. Jonson.

In Ireland, one of the continuous mounds or ridges of gravelly and sandy drift which extend for many miles over the surface of the country. Similar ridges in Scotland are called kames or kams. [Written also eskar and esker.]

The end or wall of the tunnel, drift, or excavation, at which work is progressing or was last done.

the beauteous youth." Dryden. (c) To bend or bow, as a suppliant. (d) (Naut.) To sail or drift toward the mouth of a river or other outlet. -- To fall flat, to produce no response or result; to fail of the intended effect; as, his speech fell flat. -- To fall foul of. (a) (Naut.) To have a collision with; to become…

To move quietly or gently on the water, as a raft; to drift along; to move or glide without effort or impulse on the surface of a fluid, or through the air. They stretch their broad plumes and float upon the wind. Pope. There seems a floating whisper on the hills. Byron.

A working drift or level. Whispering gallery. See under Whispering.