Meaning & use
driftwood
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
Wood that floats on water and is washed up on a shore or riverbank.
Grammar: Uncountable, so no plural and no 'a' before it: you say 'a piece of driftwood', not 'a driftwood'.
Patterns
- a piece of driftwood
- driftwood on the beach
- collect driftwood
We gathered driftwood along the beach to build a fire.
The shore was covered with driftwood after the storm.
She carved a small bird from a piece of driftwood.
Common combinations
- piece of driftwood
- He found a piece of driftwood shaped like a hand.
- driftwood sculpture
- The garden was full of driftwood sculptures.
- collect driftwood
- The children collected driftwood for the campfire.
- driftwood on the beach
- There was driftwood on the beach after the high tide.
Synonyms and how they differ
- flotsam
- Flotsam means floating wreckage or rubbish from a ship; driftwood is usually natural wood, not man-made debris.
Commonly confused: driftwood or log?
driftwood vs log
A log is a thick piece of cut wood, often from a tree trunk, while driftwood has been shaped and moved by water.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'driftwood' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Driftwood' is uncountable, so it needs a partitive like 'a piece of'. 'A driftwood' and 'driftwoods' are wrong; 'the driftwood piece' is not the natural order.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “driftwood”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.