drive
drive definition
drive (drīv)
transitive verb drove, driven driv′en, driving 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.
Related Forms:
- drivable driv′·able adjective or driveable drive′·able
- drivability driv′·abil′·ity noun or driveability drive′·abil′·ity
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
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