drift-sand, noun
- Origin:
- EnglishShow more English drift the action of drifting + sand.
- Note:
- In sense b found earlier, but only rarely, in British and Australian English.
a. Usually in pl. : Areas (usually on the coast) where wind-blown sand is deposited as mounds, banks, or dunes.
1896 R. Wallace Farming Indust. of Cape Col. 69Drift sands occur on the Cape Flats, and at certain places along the south coast of Cape Colony, but most conspicuously and extensively on the peninsular area to the west of Port Elizabeth...Drift sands occur when very fine sand lacking cohesion is cast up on the shore, and dried and blown inland by strong winds.
1988 Lubke & Van Wijk in R.A. Lubke et al. Field Guide to E. Cape Coast 172Some attractive herbs occur in open drift sands, for example Senecio elegans.
b. noncount. Wind-blown sand. Also attributive.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 153Drift-sand, Sand driven, as it is in some localities, into enormous banks by the wind.
1992 E. Van Wijk in S. Afr. Panorama Mar.–Apr. 49This division manages 130 conservation areas including forests, nature reserves, wilderness areas, drift-sand areas, [etc.].
Usually in pl. :Areas (usually on the coast) where wind-blown sand is deposited as mounds, banks, or dunes.
Wind-blown sand. Also attributive.
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