Coleman, who was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for single-handedly halting an enemy column. Forty years ago, the Globe almost single-handedly became responsible for making the killing of babies legal by hammering on it month after month during the years prior to 1969. in 1963 and built it up, almost single-handedly, to the publishing powerhouse it is today.
Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition: 1  drift, impetus, impulsion(noun) a force that moves something along. 2  drift(noun) the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane) 3  drift(noun) a process of linguistic change over a period of time.
genetic drift in Medicine Expand. genetic drift n. Random fluctuations in the frequency of the appearance of a gene in a small isolated population, presumably owing to chance rather than natural selection. Also called drift. genetic drift. Fluctuations in the frequency of a gene in a small isolated population, thought to be due to random chance rather than natural selection.