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drifter

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Etymology tree
English drift
Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.
Proto-Italic *-āzios
Latin -āriusnom.
Latin -āriusbor.
Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz
Proto-West Germanic *-ārī
Old English -ere
Middle English -ere
English -er
English drifter

    From drift (verb) + -er.

    Noun

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    drifter (plural drifters)

    1. (sometimes derogatory) A person who moves from place to place or job to job.
      • 2009, Aleisha Eagle, “The Quittin' Kind”, in Neither Here Nor There‎[1]:
        There are drifters painting beside you / They don't see the future that I do
    2. (nautical) A type of lightweight sail used in light winds like a spinnaker.
      • 1995, Ken Textor, The New Book of Sail Trim, page 85:
        In winds above 10 knots we usually run wing-and-wing with our 100 percent lapper set on a whisker pole opposite the mainsail. As the wind drops, we get out the drifter and set it flying to leeward (Fig. 1).
      • 1999, Lin Pardey, Larry Pardey, Cost Conscious Cruiser: Champagne Cruising on a Beer Budget:
        After trying a variety of light-wind sails, we've found the most versatile and simple one to be a nylon drifter.
      • 2000, Jim Howard, Charles J. Doane, Handbook of Offshore Cruising, page 178:
        Some people recommend a medium- to lightweight 140- or 150-percent headsail, and others go for a drifter/reacher.
    3. (automotive) A driver who uses driving techniques to modify vehicle traction to cause a vehicle to slide or power slide rather than drive in line with the tires.
      • 2006, Paul Morton, How to Drift: The Art of Oversteer, page 32:
        However, sensing the available traction may actually be more important to a drifter.
      • 2007, Calvin Wan, Calvin Wan's Drifting Performance Handbook, page 132:
        For professional drifters looking for even more fine-tuning of their suspension setups, some companies offer more advanced two-way adjustable shocks […]
      • 2009, Michael Bender, The Fast, the Fraudulent and the Fatal, page 50:
        While this method is used by a few drifters in rear-wheel drive cars, this technique is really the only way one can drift in a front-wheel drive car.
    4. (parachuting) A parachutist who jumps before the rest of the group to determine wind direction.
      • 1948, Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News, volume 75, page 557:
        As we circled the area, the Dakota appeared and dropped a drifter.
      • 1962, Queen's Medical Magazine, volumes 54-55, page 31:
        […] a circling Beverley dropped parachutists in small groups — a few hard words were said about R.A.F. organisation. The time came at last for the first four to get into the balloon car. First out was a drifter — an experienced parachutist who jumps first to assess conditions by allowing himself to drift at random.
    5. (mining, historical) A person employed in driving in rock other than coal.
    Translations
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    See also
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    Etymology 2

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    Etymology tree
    English drift
    Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.
    Proto-Italic *-āzios
    Latin -āriusnom.
    Latin -āriusbor.
    Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz
    Proto-West Germanic *-ārī
    Old English -ere
    Middle English -ere
    English -er
    English drifter

      From drift (noun) + -er.

      Noun

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      drifter (plural drifters)

      1. (fishing) One who takes part in drift fishing.
      2. (fishing) A boat used for drift fishing.
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      Further reading

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      Swedish

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      Noun

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      drifter

      1. indefinite plural of drift
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