drifter

plural drifters

1. derogatorysometimesA person who moves from place to place or job to job.

   There are drifters painting beside you / They don't see the future that I do

   2009, Aleisha Eagle, “The Quittin' Kind”, in Neither Here Nor There

2. nauticalA type of lightweight sail used in light winds like a spinnaker.

   After trying a variety of light-wind sails, we've found the most versatile and simple one to be a nylon drifter.

   1999, Lin Pardey, Larry Pardey, Cost Conscious Cruiser: Champagne Cruising on a Beer Budget

   2 more examples

   In winds above 10 knots we usually run wing-and-wing with our 100 percent lapper set on a whisker pole opposite the mainsail. As the wind drops, we get out the drifter and set it flying to leeward (Fig. 1).

   1995, Ken Textor, The New Book of Sail Trim, page 85

   Some people recommend a medium- to lightweight 140- or 150-percent headsail, and others go for a drifter/reacher.

   2000, Jim Howard, Charles J. Doane, Handbook of Offshore Cruising, page 178

3. automotiveA driver who uses driving techniques to modify vehicle traction to cause a vehicle to slide or power slide rather than drive in line with the tires.

   However, sensing the available traction may actually be more important to a drifter.

   2006, Paul Morton, How to Drift: The Art of Oversteer, page 32

   2 more examples

   For professional drifters looking for even more fine-tuning of their suspension setups, some companies offer more advanced two-way adjustable shocks […]

   2007, Calvin Wan, Calvin Wan's Drifting Performance Handbook, page 132

   While this method is used by a few drifters in rear-wheel drive cars, this technique is really the only way one can drift in a front-wheel drive car.

   2009, Michael Bender, The Fast, the Fraudulent and the Fatal, page 50

4. hobbiesA parachutist who jumps before the rest of the group to determine wind direction.

   As we circled the area, the Dakota appeared and dropped a drifter.

   1948, Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News, volume 75, page 557

   1 more example

   […] a circling Beverley dropped parachutists in small groups — a few hard words were said about R.A.F. organisation. The time came at last for the first four to get into the balloon car. First out was a drifter — an experienced parachutist who jumps first to assess conditions by allowing himself to drift at random.

   1962, Queen's Medical Magazine, volumes 54-55, page 31

5. historicalbusinessA person employed in driving in rock other than coal.
6. A tool used in mining and civil engineering to drill into rock.

plural drifters

1. fishingOne who takes part in drift fishing.
2. fishingA boat used for drift fishing.