Drift vs. Slip — What's the Difference?

Be carried slowly by a current of air or water

To move smoothly, easily, and quietly

(especially of snow or leaves) be blown into heaps by the wind

To move stealthily; steal

A continuous slow movement from one place to another

To escape, as from a grasp, fastening, or restraint

The general intention or meaning of an argument or someone's remarks

To put on or remove a piece of clothing smoothly or quietly

A large mass of snow, leaves, or other material piled up or carried along by the wind

To slide involuntarily and lose one's balance or foothold.

A horizontal or inclined passage following a mineral vein or coal seam

To move accidentally out of place or fail to gain traction

An act of driving cattle or sheep.

To pass gradually, easily, or imperceptibly into a different state

A ford.

To decline from a former or standard level; fall off

To be carried along by currents of air or water

To elapse, especially quickly or without notice

To proceed or move unhurriedly or aimlessly

To fall into fault or error. Often used with up.

To live or behave without a clear purpose or goal

To place or insert smoothly and quietly

To have no continuing focus; stray

To insert (a remark, for example) unobtrusively

To vary from or oscillate randomly about a fixed setting, position, or mode of operation.

To put on or remove (clothing) easily or quickly

To be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of a current

To get loose or free from; elude

To cause to be carried in a current

To fail to be remembered by

To pile up in banks or heaps

To release, loose, or unfasten

Western US To drive (livestock) slowly or far afield, especially for grazing.

To unleash or free (a dog or hawk) to pursue game.

Something moving along in a current of air or water

To give birth to prematurely. Used of animals.

A bank or pile, as of sand or snow, heaped up by currents of air or water.

To dislocate (a bone).

(Geology) Rock debris transported and deposited by or from ice, especially by or from a glacier.

To pass (a knitting stitch) from one needle to another without knitting it.

A general trend or tendency, as of opinion.

To make a slip from (a plant or plant part).

General meaning or purport; tenor

The act or an instance of slipping or sliding.

A gradual change in position

An accident or mishap, especially resulting in a fall.

A gradual deviation from an original course, model, method, or intention.

An error in conduct or thinking; a mistake.

Variation or random oscillation about a fixed setting, position, or mode of behavior.

A slight error or oversight, as in speech or writing

A gradual change in the output of a circuit or amplifier.

A docking place for a ship between two piers.

The rate of flow of a water current.

A slipway.

A tool for ramming or driving something down.

(Nautical) The difference between a vessel's actual speed through water and the speed at which the vessel would move if the screw were propelling against a solid.

A tapered steel pin for enlarging and aligning holes.

A woman's undergarment of dress length with shoulder straps.

A horizontal or nearly horizontal passageway in a mine running through or parallel to a vein.

A half-slip.

A secondary mine passageway between two main shafts or tunnels.

A pillowcase.

A drove or herd, especially of swine.

A smooth crack at which rock strata have moved on each other.

(physical) Movement; that which moves or is moved.

A small fault.

Anything driven at random.

The relative displacement of formerly adjacent points on opposite sides of a fault.

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.

The difference between optimal and actual output in a mechanical device.

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

Movement between two parts where none should exist, as between a pulley and a belt.

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

A sideways movement of an airplane when banked too far.

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 part of a plant cut or broken off for grafting or planting; a scion or cutting.

Driftwood included in flotsam washed up onto the beach.

A long narrow piece; a strip.

(obsolete) A driving; a violent movement.

A slender youthful person

Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting.

A small piece of paper, especially a small form, document, or receipt

That which is driven, forced, or urged along.

A narrow pew in a church.

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

Thinned potter's clay used for decorating or coating ceramics.

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

(intransitive) To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction.

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.

(intransitive) To err.

(architecture) The horizontal thrust or pressure of an arch or vault upon the abutments.

(intransitive) To accidentally reveal a secret or otherwise say something unintentional.

(handiwork) A tool.

(intransitive) To move or fly (out of place); to shoot; often with out, off, etc.

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.

(transitive) To pass (a note, money, etc.), often covertly.

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

(transitive) To cause to move smoothly and quickly; to slide; to convey gently or secretly.

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.

(intransitive) To move quickly and often secretively; to depart, withdraw, enter, appear, intrude, or escape as if by sliding.

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

To move down; to slide.

(uncountable) Minor deviation of audio or video playback from its correct speed.

To release (a dog, a bird of prey, etc.) to go after a quarry.

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

Clipping of sideslip: To fly with the longitudinal axis misaligned with the relative wind.

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

To remove the skin of a soft fruit, such as a tomato or peach, by blanching briefly in boiling water, then transferring to cold water so that the skin peels, or slips, off easily.

(nautical) Movement.

(obsolete) To omit; to lose by negligence.

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

(transitive) To cut slips from; to cut; to take off; to make a slip or slips of.

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

(transitive) To cause to slip or slide off, or out of place.

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.

To bring forth (young) prematurely; to slink.

The distance between the two blocks of a tackle.

To cause (a schedule or release, etc.) to go, or let it go, beyond the allotted deadline.

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.

An act or instance of slipping.

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

A woman's undergarment worn under a skirt or dress to conceal unwanted nudity that may otherwise be revealed by the skirt or dress itself; a shift.

Slow, cumulative change.

A slipdress.

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

A mistake or error.

(intransitive) To move slowly, especially pushed by currents of water, air, etc.

(nautical) A berth; a space for a ship to moor.

(intransitive) To move haphazardly without any destination.

(nautical) A difference between the theoretical distance traveled per revolution of the propeller and the actual advance of the vessel.

(intransitive) To deviate gently from the intended direction of travel.

(nautical) A slipway.

(transitive) To drive or carry, as currents do a floating body.

(medicine) A one-time return to previous maladaptive behaviour after cure.

(transitive) To drive into heaps.

(cricket) Any of several fielding positions to the off side of the wicket keeper, designed to catch the ball after being deflected from the bat; a fielder in that position (See first slip, second slip, third slip, fourth slip and fifth slip.)

(intransitive) To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps.

A number between 0 and 1 that is the difference between the angular speed of a rotating magnetic field and the angular speed of its rotor, divided by the angular speed of the magnetic field.

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.

A leash or string by which a dog is held; so called from its being made in such a manner as to slip, or become loose, by relaxation of the hand.

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

An escape; a secret or unexpected desertion.

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

(aviation) sideslip

A driving; a violent movement.

A portion of the columns of a newspaper etc. struck off by itself; a proof from a column of type when set up and in the galley.

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

(dated) A child's pinafore.

Course or direction along which anything is driven; setting.

An outside covering or case.

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.

(obsolete) A counterfeit piece of money, made from brass covered with silver.

That which is driven, forced, or urged along

Matter found in troughs of grindstones after the grinding of edge tools.

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

A particular quantity of yarn.

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

A narrow passage between buildings.

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 agency of ice.

(US) A long seat or narrow pew in churches, often without a door.

In South Africa, a ford in a river.

(mining) A dislocation of a lead, destroying continuity.

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.

(engineering) The motion of the centre of resistance of the float of a paddle wheel, or the blade of an oar, through the water horizontally, or the difference between a vessel's actual speed and the speed it would have if the propelling instrument acted upon a solid; also, the velocity, relatively to still water, of the backward current of water produced by the propeller.

A tool used in driving down compactly the composition contained in a rocket, or like firework.

(electrical) The difference between the actual and synchronous speeds of an induction motor.

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

(telecommunications) The positional displacement in a sequence of transmitted symbols that causes the loss or insertion of one or more symbols.

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

A fish, the sole.

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.

A twig or shoot; a cutting.

One of the slower movements of oceanic circulation; a general tendency of the water, subject to occasional or frequent diversion or reversal by the wind; as, the easterly drift of the North Pacific.

(obsolete) A descendant, a scion.

The horizontal component of the pressure of the air on the sustaining surfaces of a flying machine. The lift is the corresponding vertical component, which sustains the machine in the air.

A young person (now usually with of introducing descriptive qualifier).

To float or be driven along by, or as by, a current of water or air; as, the ship drifted astern; a raft drifted ashore; the balloon drifts slowly east.

A long, thin piece of something.

To accumulate in heaps by the force of wind; to be driven into heaps; as, snow or sand drifts.

A small piece of paper, especially one longer than it is wide, typically a form for writing on or one giving printed information.

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.

(marine insurance) A memorandum of the particulars of a risk for which a policy is to be executed. It usually bears the broker's name and is initiated by the underwriters.

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

(ceramics) A thin, slippery mix of clay and water.

To drive into heaps; as, a current of wind drifts snow or sand.

(obsolete) Mud, slime.

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

To move along the surface of a thing without bounding, rolling, or stepping; to slide; to glide.

That causes drifting or that is drifted; movable by wind or currents; as, drift currents; drift ice; drift mud.

To slide; to lose one's footing or one's hold; not to tread firmly; as, it is necessary to walk carefully lest the foot should slip.

A force that moves something along

To move or fly (out of place); to shoot; - often with out, off, etc.; as, a bone may slip out of its place.

The gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane)

To depart, withdraw, enter, appear, intrude, or escape as if by sliding; to go or come in a quiet, furtive manner; as, some errors slipped into the work.

A process of linguistic change over a period of time

To err; to fall into error or fault.

Something that is heaped up by the wind or by water currents

To cause to move smoothly and quickly; to slide; to convey gently or secretly.

A general tendency to change (as of opinion);

To omit; to loose by negligence.

General meaning or tenor;

To cut slips from; to cut; to take off; to make a slip or slips of; as, to slip a piece of cloth or paper.

A horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine;

To let loose in pursuit of game, as a greyhound.

Be in motion due to some air or water current;

To cause to slip or slide off, or out of place; as, a horse slips his bridle; a dog slips his collar.

Wander from a direct course or at random;

To bring forth (young) prematurely; to slink.

Move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment;

The act of slipping; as, a slip on the ice.

Vary or move from a fixed point or course;

An unintentional error or fault; a false step.

Live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely;

A twig separated from the main stock; a cutting; a scion; hence, a descendant; as, a slip from a vine.

Move in an unhurried fashion;

A slender piece; a strip; as, a slip of paper.

Cause to be carried by a current;

A leash or string by which a dog is held; - so called from its being made in such a manner as to slip, or become loose, by relaxation of the hand.

Drive slowly and far afield for grazing;

An escape; a secret or unexpected desertion; as, to give one the slip.

Be subject to fluctuation;

A portion of the columns of a newspaper or other work struck off by itself; a proof from a column of type when set up and in the galley.

Be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a current;

Any covering easily slipped on.

A counterfeit piece of money, being brass covered with silver.

Matter found in troughs of grindstones after the grinding of edge tools.

Potter's clay in a very liquid state, used for the decoration of ceramic ware, and also as a cement for handles and other applied parts.

A particular quantity of yarn.

An inclined plane on which a vessel is built, or upon which it is hauled for repair.

An opening or space for vessels to lie in, between wharves or in a dock; as, Peck slip.

A narrow passage between buildings.

A long seat or narrow pew in churches, often without a door.

A dislocation of a lead, destroying continuity.

The motion of the center of resistance of the float of a paddle wheel, or the blade of an oar, through the water horozontally, or the difference between a vessel's actual speed and the speed which she would have if the propelling instrument acted upon a solid; also, the velocity, relatively to still water, of the backward current of water produced by the propeller.

A fish, the sole.

A fielder stationed on the off side and to the rear of the batsman. There are usually two of them, called respectively short slip, and long slip.

The retrograde movement on a pulley of a belt as it slips.

The difference between the actual and synchronous speed of an induction motor.

A memorandum of the particulars of a risk for which a policy is to be executed. It usually bears the broker's name and is initiated by the underwrites.

A socially awkward or tactless act

A minor inadvertent mistake usually observed in speech or writing or in small accidents or memory lapses etc.

Potter's clay that is thinned and used for coating or decorating ceramics

A part (sometimes a root or leaf or bud) removed from a plant to propagate a new plant through rooting or grafting

A young and slender person;

A place where a craft can be made fast

An accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall;

A slippery smoothness;

Artifact consisting of a narrow flat piece of material

A small sheet of paper;

A woman's sleeveless undergarment

Bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow;

An unexpected slide

A flight maneuver; aircraft slides sideways in the air

The act of avoiding capture (especially by cunning)

Move stealthily;

Insert inconspicuously or quickly or quietly;

Move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner;

Get worse;

Move smoothly and easily

To make a mistake or be incorrect

Pass on stealthily;

Pass out of one's memory

Move out of position;