a part of a structure having some specific characteristic or function; "the spacious cooking area provided plenty of room for servants"
the extent of a 2-dimensional surface enclosed within a boundary; "the area of a rectangle"; "it was about 500 square feet in area"
a part of an animal that has a special function or is supplied by a given artery or nerve; "in the abdominal region"
a subject of study; "it was his area of specialization"; "areas of interest include..."
a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography); "it was a mountainous area"; "Bible country"
a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine; "they dug a drift parallel with the vein"
the pervading meaning or tenor; "caught the general drift of the conversation"
a general tendency to change (as of opinion); "not openly liberal but that is the trend of the book"; "a broad movement of the electorate to the right"
something that is heaped up by the wind or by water currents
a force that moves something along
the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane)
a process of linguistic change over a period of time
be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a current; "snow drifting several feet high"; "sand drifting like snow"
be subject to fluctuation; "The stock market drifted upward"
drive slowly and far afield for grazing; "drift the cattle herds westwards"
cause to be carried by a current; "drift the boats downstream"
move in an unhurried fashion; "The unknown young man drifted among the invited guests"
vary or move from a fixed point or course; "stock prices are drifting higher"
be or do something to a greater degree; "her performance surpasses that of any other student I know"; "She outdoes all other athletes"; "This exceeds all my expectations"; "This car outperforms all others in its class"
performance given by a traveling company of acrobats clowns and trained animals; "the children always love to go to the circus"
a frenetic disorganized (and often comic) disturbance suggestive of a large public entertainment; "it was so funny it was a circus"; "the whole occasion had a carnival atmosphere"
a genus of haws comprising the harriers
an arena consisting of an oval or circular area enclosed by tiers of seats and usually covered by a tent; "they used the elephants to help put up the circus"
(antiquity) an open-air stadium for chariot races and gladiatorial games
a travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals; "he ran away from home to join the circus"
communicated in the form of words; "verbal imagery"; "a verbal protest"
prolix; "you put me to forget a lady's manners by being so verbal"- Shakespeare
relating to or having facility in the use of words; "a good poet is a verbal artist"; "a merely verbal writer who sacrifices content to sound"; "verbal aptitude"
expressed in spoken words; "a verbal contract"
of or relating to or formed from a verb; "verbal adjectives like `running' in `hot and cold running water'"
of or relating to or formed from words in general; "verbal ability"
markedly different from the usual; "a peculiar hobby of stuffing and mounting bats"; "a man...feels it a peculiar insult to be taunted with cowardice by a woman"-Virginia Woolf