DRÍFA

rain

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I)

(dríf; dreif, drifum; drifinn), v.

1) to drift, drive like spray or snow (þá drífr snær ór öllum áttum); fig. of missles, to shower, fly, like flakes of snow (láta drífa skot, vápn, á e-n); veðr var drífanda, there was a great snow-storm; esp. impers. with dat., dreif sandinn, the sand drifted; lauðri dreif á lypting útan, the spray drove over the poop; þegar dreif í Löginn krömmu, there fell wet snow in the Lake, it began to sleet;

2) to crowd, throng, rush; þá drífr ofan mannfjöldi mikill til strandar, a great crowd rushes down to the shore; dreif allt fólk á hans fund, all people crowded to see him; tóku menn þá at drífa brott frá hertoganum, men began to desert the duke; drífa yfir e-n, to befall, happen to one;

refl., láta yfir drífast (= drífa yfir sik), to yield, give in (rán ok útlegðir þeirra manna, er eigi létu yfir drífa);

3) to perform; drífa leik, to play; en í annan stað á ek at drífa mikinn vanda, I am in a hard strait;

4) to besprinkle with (e-t e-u döggu drifinn).

II)

f. fall of snow, snowdrift (skotvápn flugu svá þykt sem drífa).

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pret. dreif, pl. drifu; pres. dríf; pret. subj. drifi; part. drifinn: [Ulf. dreiban = εκβάλλειν; A. S. drîfan; Engl. drive; O. H. G. triban; mod. Germ. treiben; Swed. drifva; Dan. drive, all in a transitive sense—to drive.]

I. to drive like spray, either pers. or impers., with dat. or even neut.; þá kemr áfall mikit … ok dreif yfir búlkann, Bs. i. 422; lauðri dreif á lypting útan, the spray drove over the poop, Fms. vi. (in a verse); hence metaph. phrases, láta yfir d., to let drift before wind and wave, Ísl. ii. 461: or even reflex., láta yfir (fyrir) drífask, to let drive or drift away, let go, give in; rán ok útlegðir þeirra manna er eigi létu fyrir drífask, Fb. i. 70; þat dugir á enga leið, at menn láti yfir drífask, Bs. ii. 51; ok er þó þat ráð, at láta eigi fyrir drífask, Karl. 386, 452: allit. phrase, drífa á dagana, e. g. mart hefir drifit á dagana, many things (splashes) have happened; drifinn döggu, besprent with dew, Vtkv. 5: naut., róa drífanda, to pull so that the spray splashes about, pull hard, Fms. viii. 263, 431: to drift, of a snow storm or the like, tré með drífandum kvistum, a tree with the branches full of snow. Sks. 49; veðr var drífanda, it snowed, Sturl. iii. 50, Ó. H. 85; þegar dreif í Löginn krömmu, there fell soft snow in the Lake, i. e. it began to sleet, Fms. v. 196; þá drífr snær ór öllum áttum, Edda 40: metaph. of missiles, to shower as flakes of snow, borgarmena láta þegar d. skot á þá, Al. 11; lata þeir d. vápn á þá, Fb. i. 135.

II. neut. to crowd, throng; þá drífr ofan mannfjöldi mikill til strandar, a great crowd rushed down to the shore, Ld. 76; tóku menn þá at d. brott frá hertoganum, the men began to desert (run away) from the duke, Fms. ix. 531, dreif allt fólk á hans fund, all people rushed to see him, i. 21, iv. 105; d. á dyrr, to rush to the door, Vkv. 19.

III. to perform; eiga e-t at d., to have a thing to perform, Gþl. 15, 16; en í annan stað á ek at d. mikinn vanda, I am in a hard strait, Fms. i. 221; d. leik, to play, Fas. i. 37: the sense to drive out, expel, so common in all other Teut. dialects, hardly occurs in old writers, and sounds foreign even now; the proverb, með íllu skal illt út drífa; d. sig, to exert oneself, etc., (cant phrases.)