driftage

American  

[drif-tij] / ˈdrɪf tɪdʒ /

noun

1. the action or an amount of drifting.

2. drifted matter.

3. Navigation. the amount of drift away from a set course as a result of wind and currents.

4. windage.

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driftage British  

/ ˈdrɪftɪdʒ /

noun

1. the act of drifting

2. matter carried along or deposited by drifting

3. the amount by which an aircraft or vessel has drifted from its intended course

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Etymology

Origin of driftage

First recorded in 1760–70; drift + -age

Example Sentences

Also they were scrubs—the dirty driftage of the fight game, without honor, without efficiency.

From The Night-Born by London, Jack

And now both their minds were Londonward, where all the tides and driftage and currents of human thought still meet and swirl together.

From Marriage by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)

Experience has given directions for its use, avoiding some of the grosser causes of error from driftage and other causes.

From The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph by Field, Henry M. (Henry Martyn)

Fuel coal is also too pure to have been accumulated by driftage.

From The Elements of Geology by Norton, William Harmon

Among caves of driftage may be classed some of those near Liège, in Belgium, and, partially at least, those of Kent's Hole and Brixham, in England.

From The Origin of the World According to Revelation and Science by Dawson, John William