driver

[ drahy-ver ]
See synonyms for driver on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person or thing that drives.

  2. a person who drives a vehicle; coachman, chauffeur, etc.

  1. a person who drives an animal or animals, as a drover or cowboy.

  2. Also called number one wood. Golf. a club with a wooden head whose face has almost no slope, for hitting long, low drives from the tee.

  3. Machinery.

    • a part that transmits force or motion.

    • the member of a pair of connected pulleys, gears, etc., that is nearer to the power source.

  4. Computers. software or hardware that controls the interface between a computer and a peripheral device.

  5. British. a locomotive engineer.

  6. Audio.

    • the part of a loudspeaker that transforms the electrical signal into sound.

    • the entire loudspeaker.

  7. Nautical.

    • a jib-headed spanker sail.

    • a designation given to one of the masts abaft the mizzen on a sailing vessel having more than three masts, either the fifth or sixth from forward.: Compare pusher (def. 4), spanker (def. 1b).

Origin of driver

1
First recorded in 1350–1400, driver is from the Middle English word drivere.See drive, -er1

Other words from driver

  • driv·er·less, adjective
  • non·driv·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use driver in a sentence

  • The last engine I erected was about three weeks since, for a farmer that kept four horses and two drivers.

  • This system, which we found in operation in many places, is the means of saving motor drivers from numerous fines.

  • Sometimes the drivers lash at him with their long whips but he is too quick for them and scampers out of their reach.

    Seven O'Clock Stories | Robert Gordon Anderson
  • For several days we have again met very large trains of oxen, some of the drivers of which had their families with them.

  • Then the conversation turned upon the feud that existed between Viking and Sunburst, the river-drivers and the fishers.

    Mrs. Falchion, Complete | Gilbert Parker

British Dictionary definitions for driver

driver

/ (ˈdraɪvə) /


noun
  1. a person who drives a vehicle

  2. in the driver's seat in a position of control

  1. a person who drives animals

  2. a mechanical component that exerts a force on another to produce motion

  3. golf a club, a No. 1 wood, with a large head and deep face for tee shots

  4. electronics a circuit whose output provides the input of another circuit

  5. computing a computer program that controls a device

  6. something that creates and fuels activity, or gives force or impetus

Derived forms of driver

  • driverless, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with driver

driver

see backseat driver; in the driver's seat.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.