Showing results for "drove"

• past tense form of drive.

drove

¹ American  

[drohv] / droʊv /

verb

1. simple past tense of drive.

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drove ² American  

[drohv] / droʊv /

noun

• droves
  plural

1. a number of oxen, sheep, or swine driven in a group; herd; flock.

2. Usually droves a large crowd of human beings, especially in motion.

   They came to Yankee Stadium in droves.

3. Also called drove chisel.  Masonry. a chisel, from 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) broad at the edge, for dressing stones to an approximately true surface.

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verb (used with or without object)

droved, droving

1. to drive or deal in (cattle) as a drover; herd.

2. Masonry. to work or smooth (stone) as with a drove.

drove ¹ British  

/ drəʊv /

noun

1. a herd of livestock being driven together

2. (often plural) a moving crowd of people

3. a narrow irrigation channel

4. Also called: drove chisel.  a chisel with a broad edge used for dressing stone

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verb

1. 1. (tr) to drive (a group of livestock), usually for a considerable distance

   2. (intr) to be employed as a drover

2. to work (a stone surface) with a drove

drove ² British  

/ drəʊv /

verb

1. the past tense of drive

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Synonym Usage

See flock ¹.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• droves
  plural

Etymology

Origin of drove

First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English drāf “that which is driven,” i.e., “herd, flock”; akin to drive

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

drove droves droved droving

The dynamic drove net income to rise to $1.22 billion, or 73 cents a share, up from $811 million, or 47 cents a share, in the comparable quarter a year ago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

When Tebogo failed to show, Mathipa drove away again, along the highway.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Edman drove in the tying run, too, lining a single to left for the Dodgers’ third hit of the inning off Diamondbacks right-hander Taylor Clarke in the seventh.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

The updates came as Wendy’s recorded a 7% drop in same-restaurant sales in the U.S. for the second quarter, which drove a 6.5% decrease in overall systemwide sales.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Just as well because Tansy drove us all like cattle across the United States, state by state, capital by capital, river by river.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

“Eleanor Rigby” attracted a post-55 audience in droves, while the good-natured storyline and nautical sound effects inherent in “Yellow Submarine” drew children and pre-teens into The Beatles’ camp.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

Their numbers increased exponentially as droves began "fleeing the Covid mess … on the East Coast and West Coast," says Mark Corner, president of Southwest Montana Realtors.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

The app has boosted lesser-known businesses and sent tourists in droves to unconventional locations such as Zibo, a quiet industrial city in Shandong, after its cheap, marinated barbecue skewers went viral.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

To the droves of Portuguese fans who packed NRG Stadium just to lay eyes on him, Ronaldo had never left.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

Northern Europeans who were sent out to hot tropical lowland areas used to die in droves of diseases such as malaria, to which tropical peoples had evolved some genetic resistance.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Cattle that have been two weeks at grass may, however, be safely droved.

From Cattle and Cattle-breeders by M'Combie, William

In a practice known as turkey droving, thousands of birds, some wearing tiny leather boots, were herded through fields and along rough roads on a three-month journey.

From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025

The bridge across the River Rede was situated on a historic droving route used by farmers to move large numbers of sheep and cattle between England and Scotland.

From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2020

Gunbar, a dusty village with fewer than 100 people, is typical of the stops along the droving route of rutted, red dust roads.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2014

Growing up in Moree, in outback New South Wales, he would go droving at weekends while he was still at school.

From Time Magazine Archive

By Jove!" said Ferrier, when they had marched for an hour and covered perhaps two miles, "I begin to understand what your droving job was like.

From Settlers and Scouts by Strang, Herbert