drive Definition
drive (drīv)
transitive verb drove, driv′en, driv′·ing
- to force to go; urge onward; push forward
- to force into or from a state or act driven mad
- to force to work, usually to excess
- to force by or as by a blow, thrust, or stroke
- to throw, hit, or cast hard and swiftly
- Golf to hit from the tee, usually with a driver
- to cause to go through; make penetrate
- to make or produce by penetrating to drive a hole through metal
- to control the movement or direct the course of (an automobile, horse and wagon, locomotive, etc.)
- to transport in an automobile or other vehicle
- to impel or propel as motive power; set or keep going; cause to function a gasoline engine drives the motorboat
- to compel, motivate, influence, direct, etc. the investigation is driven by political rivalry
- to carry on with vigor; push (a bargain, etc.) through
- Hunting
- to chase (game) from thickets into the clear or into nets, traps, etc.
- to cover (an area) in this way
Etymology: ME driven < OE drifan, akin to Goth dreiban, Ger treiben, ON drīfa < IE base *dhreibh-, to push
intransitive verb
- to advance violently; dash
- to work or try hard, as to reach a goal
- to drive a blow, ball, missile, etc.
- to be driven; operate: said of a motor vehicle
- to go or be conveyed in a vehicle
- to operate a motor vehicle
noun
- the act of driving
- a trip in a vehicle
- a road for automobiles, etc.
- a driveway
- ☆
- a rounding up or moving of animals on foot for branding, slaughter, etc.
- the animals rounded up or moved
- a hard, swift blow, thrust, etc., as of a ball in a game
- Golf a shot from the tee, usually with a driver
- ☆
- an organized movement to achieve some purpose; campaign
- a large-scale military offensive to gain an objective
- Football a series of plays that advances the ball toward the opponent's goal, usually resulting in a field goal or touchdown
- ☆ the power or energy to get things done; enthusiastic or aggressive vigor
- that which is urgent or pressing; pressure
- ☆ a collection of logs being floated down a river to a sawmill
- any apparatus that transmits power in a motor vehicle a gear drive
- that arrangement in an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle which allows movement forward at varying speeds
- a device that communicates motion to a machine or machine part
- Comput. a unit that reads and writes data on magnetic tape, a disk, etc.
- Psychol. any of the basic biological impulses or urges, such as self-preservation, hunger, sex, etc.
drive Related Forms
drive Idioms
drive at
- to aim at
- to mean; intend
drive in
- to force in, as by a blow
- ☆ Baseball to cause (a runner) to score or (a run) to be scored, as by getting a hit
let drive
to hit or aim
drive Synonyms
drive
n.
A ride in a vehicle
ride, trip, outing, ramble, airing, tour, expedition, excursion, jaunt, run, turn, spin, Sunday drive; see also journey.In baseball, a low, fast fly
line drive, infield drive, home run, bleacher drive*; see hit 3.A driveway
Impelling force
energy, initiative, impulse, urge; see ambition 1, force 3, impulse 1.
drive Synonyms
drive
v.
To urge on
impel, propel, instigate, incite, animate, hasten, urge, egg on, compel, coerce, induce, force, press, stimulate, hurry, actuate, frighten, constrain, provoke, motivate, arouse, make, put up to, inspire, prompt, call up, spirit up, rouse, smoke out, ferret out, operate upon, work on, act upon; see also sense 2; encourage 1, push 2.To cause to move; usually said of domestic animals
chase, herd, prod, goad, worry, spur, hustle, hound, dog, hunt, kick, beat, rap, push, shove, hurry along, round up, drove, wrangle, hit the trail with*, ride herd on*; see also sense 1; push 2.To manage a propelled vehicle
operate, steer, maneuver, direct, manage, handle, pilot, run, propel, send, spin, wheel, bicycle, bike*, cycle*, pedal*, ride*, head for*, transport*, chauffeur*, take for a ride, bus*, tour*, motor*, float*, drift*, put in motion, give an impetus, start*, turn*, rattle*, set going, speed*, accelerate*, speed up*, roll*, slide*, coast*, get under way, keep going*, vehiculate, race*, back in, back up*, bowl along*, barrel along*, burn up the road*, go like hell*, go hellbent for election*, step on it*, open her up*, give it the gun*, floor it*, rev*; see also ride 1, speed.To force with blows
hit, strike, pound, knock, punch, hammer, ram, whack, maul, butt, shoot, thwack, throw, thump, batter, smite, wham*, sock*, soak*, pop*, tickle*, jackhammer*, give it to*; see also beat 1, hit 1.To carry on offensive movement
push forward, thrust, counterattack; see attack 1.
drive Usage Examples
Object
- license: I have penalty points on my driving license - can I still apply to join Grampian police?
- force: What have been the driving forces behind the new model?
- car: Roth motors later used a pig to drive a car down Broadway for the sake of a stunt!
- vehicle: Many people mistakenly take out motor trade cover just to get cover to drive any vehicle.
Preposition: on
motorway: Driving on the motorway requires a special permit which can be bought for one or two weeks or for a whole year.
Noun phrase with adjective complement
- mad: It's enough to drive an older brother mad.
- crazy: Brittas drives the helpline crazy with endless questions about problems like dropping crumbs down the keyboard.
Adjective modifier
- hard: Your hard drive might have a capacity of 10 GB.
- floppy: DPO PCs [ back to top of page ] Why is the floppy drive disabled on Intel PCs?
- short: The Eden Project is only a short drive away Much of the coast is in the hands of the National Trust.
- ide: In addition, taper also supports IDE tape drives in ALPHA stage.
- scenic: Day 2: Mekong Delta - Can Tho Leave Saigon for a scenic drive to Mekong Delta.
- optical: Describes the installation and configuration of optical disk drives for Linux.
Followed by an intransitive particle
around: My wife and I drove around and around - there is no logic to it, you just keep driving.
Noun used with modifier
- disk: Windows 98 Floppy Drive Search By default Windows 98 searches for any new floppy disk drives on bootup.
- four-wheel: They then hitched it to a large four-wheel drive vehicle.
- wheel: Birch splays before miles of new snow, fueling our noses, our four wheel drive.
- flash: Note that the flash drives we have claim to require 500mA, which is unusually high for a flash drive.
- minute: By Air London Heathrow Airport is a 30 minute drive away.
- recruitment: Membership matters Recruitment We will shortly be launching a recruitment drive for more members, especially coach operators.
Browse dictionary entries near drive
- ‹ dript
- ‹ dripstone
- ‹ drippy
- ‹ dripping pan
- ‹ dripping
- ‹ dripless
- ‹ drip grind
- ‹ drip-dry
- ‹ drip
- ‹ drinking song

