drift vs land

drift

noun
  • A deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to obloid projectiles. 

  • Driftwood included in flotsam washed up onto the beach. 

  • The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments. 

  • The act or motion of drifting; the force which impels or drives; an overpowering influence or impulse. 

  • A place (a ford) along a river where the water is shallow enough to permit crossing to the opposite side. 

  • The distance between the two blocks of a tackle. 

  • A sideways movement of the ball through the air, when bowled by a spin bowler. 

  • Slow, cumulative change. 

  • A passage driven or cut between shaft and shaft; a driftway; a small subterranean gallery; an adit or tunnel. 

  • In New Forest National Park, UK, the bi-annual round-up of wild ponies in order to be sold. 

  • A collection of loose earth and rocks, or boulders, which have been distributed over large portions of the earth's surface, especially in latitudes north of forty degrees, by the retreat of continental glaciers, such as that which buries former river valleys and creates young river valleys. 

  • A slightly tapered tool of steel for enlarging or shaping a hole in metal, by being forced or driven into or through it; a broach. 

  • The place in a deep-waisted vessel where the sheer is raised and the rail is cut off, and usually terminated with a scroll, or driftpiece. 

  • A mass of matter which has been driven or forced onward together in a body, or thrown together in a heap, etc., especially by wind or water. 

  • A tool used to insert or extract a removable pin made of metal or hardwood, for the purpose of aligning and/or securing two pieces of material together. 

  • The angle which the line of a ship's motion makes with the meridian, in drifting. 

  • The difference between the size of a bolt and the hole into which it is driven, or between the circumference of a hoop and that of the mast on which it is to be driven. 

  • That which is driven, forced, or urged along. 

  • The distance through which a current flows in a given time. 

  • Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting. 

  • A tool used to pack down the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework. 

  • Minor deviation of audio or video playback from its correct speed. 

  • The tendency of an act, argument, course of conduct, or the like; object aimed at or intended; intention; hence, also, import or meaning of a sentence or discourse; aim. 

  • The situation where a performer gradually and unintentionally moves from their proper location within the scene. 

  • The distance a vessel is carried off from her desired course by the wind, currents, or other causes. 

  • Anything driven at random. 

  • A drove or flock, as of cattle, sheep, birds. 

verb
  • To deviate gently from the intended direction of travel. 

  • To move slowly, especially pushed by currents of water, air, etc. 

  • To move haphazardly without any destination. 

  • To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body. 

  • To drive into heaps. 

  • To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps. 

  • To make a drift; to examine a vein or ledge for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of metals or ores; to follow a vein; to prospect. 

  • To oversteer a vehicle, causing loss of traction, while maintaining control from entry to exit of a corner. See Drifting (motorsport). 

  • To enlarge or shape, as a hole, with a drift. 

land

noun
  • The space between the rifling grooves in a gun. 

  • The part of Earth which is not covered by oceans or other bodies of water. 

  • The soil, in respect to its nature or quality for farming. 

  • lant; urine 

  • The ground left unploughed between furrows; any of several portions into which a field is divided for ploughing. 

  • Real estate or landed property; a partitioned and measurable area which is owned and acquired and on which buildings and structures can be built and erected. 

  • On a compact disc or similar recording medium, an area of the medium which does not have pits. 

  • realm, domain. 

  • In any surface prepared with indentations, perforations, or grooves, that part of the surface which is not so treated, such as the level part of a millstone between the furrows. 

  • A group of dwellings or tenements under one roof and having a common entry. 

  • The lap of the strakes in a clinker-built boat; the lap of plates in an iron vessel; called also landing. 

  • A conducting area on a board or chip which can be used for connecting wires. 

  • The non-airline portion of an itinerary. Hotel, tours, cruises, etc. 

  • A person's country of origin and/or homeplace; homeland. 

  • A country or region. 

  • A shock or fright. 

verb
  • To succeed in having sexual relations with; to score 

  • (of a blow) To deliver. 

  • To descend to a surface, especially from the air. 

  • To come into rest. 

  • To arrive on land, especially a shore or dock, from a body of water. 

  • To acquire; to secure. 

  • To go down well with an audience. 

  • To bring to land. 

  • (of a punch) To connect 

  • To capture or arrest. 

How often have the words drift and land occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )