From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Drift is a slow change and may refer specifically to:

Look up drift in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

In the literal sense of a change in position of a body:

• The effect of wind and water pushing a body (person or thing around) usually in a current. A difference in drift rates becomes an urgent matter in a Man Over Board Event, and a positional drift constantly concerns Navigators and Pilots conning large vessels as well as Aviators conning aircraf: world-wide.
• Drifting (motorsport), which is a sport where drivers intentionally induce oversteer, to be judged on their technique.
• Drift (railroad), which in railroading is the cutting off of power and using inertia alone to maintain forward movement.
• The condition where a motor vehicle's rear wheels slip at a greater angle than the front wheels; see oversteer.
• Intentional use of oversteer for faster cornering in low road surface traction conditions; see Opposite lock
• Ice drift: drift of sea ice
• Snow drift: a deposit of snow created by the wind

In science and technology:

• Drift (linguistics): the variation of speech.
• Drift (telecommunication): the slow long-term variation of an attribute or value of a system or device.
• In plasma physics, drift is the motion of the guiding center of a particle.
• Drift mining: a nearly horizontal underground tunnel.
• Drift (geology): rock debris transported and deposited by or from ice, especially by or from a glacier.
• Drift pin: several kinds of tools used for enlarging or aligning holes.
• Genetic drift: mechanism of evolution that change the characteristics of species over time.
• Clock drift: a phenomenon where a clock does not run in the exact right speed compared to another clock.
• Drift (Fluid Mechanics): the permanent displacement of fluid particles in an inviscid fluid owing to their kinematic motion when a body passes through it.
• Continental drift

In geography (In South Africa, drift is a synonym for ford):

• Pont Drift on the Limpopo River on the road between South Africa and Botswana.
• Rorke's Drift, which is the site of 1879 battle between British and Zulu forces.
• Mostert's Drift, near Jonkershoek, on the Eerste River at Stellenbosch.
• Mulder's Drift, near Johannesburg on the road between Krugersdorp and Pretoria.
• Velddrif, which is a town on the west coast Bergrivier Local Municipality.
• Xuka Drift on the upper reaches of the Mbashe River near Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape.
• Drift, Cornwall: a village – Drift Reservoir is nearby

In culture:

• Drift - Dancer without a body, an online dance film. [1]
• Drift (album) is the fifth album by Flotsam and Jetsam.
• Drift (Doctor Who), a Doctor Who novel.

See also:

• Driftwood

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