drift
n. C / Un. a slow movement from one place to another, or the general meaning of what someone is saying. You use it when things move naturally without a clear plan.
n. a slow, gradual movement or change from one position or state to another; also, the general intention or meaning of a speech or piece of writing. Often used to describe physical movement caused by air or water currents.
The boat began a slow drift away from the shore.
I did not catch every word of his speech, but I certainly got the drift of his argument.
The gradual drift of the tectonic plates over millions of years eventually resulted in the formation of the mountain range we see today.
From Middle English drift, dryft (“act of driving, drove, shower of rain or snow, impulse”), from Old English drift (“drift”), from Proto-Germanic driftiz (“drift”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”). Equivalent to drive + -t; cognate with North Frisian drift (“drift”), Saterland Frisian Drift (“current, flow, stream, drift”), Dutch drift (“drift, passion, urge”), German Drift (“drift”) and Trift (“drove, pasture”), Danish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Swedish drift (“impulse, instinct”), Icelandic drift (“drift, snow-drift”).
Often used in the phrase 'get the drift' to mean understanding the general point of a conversation.