drive

American  

[drahyv] / draɪv /

verb (used with object)

• drives,
  present (3rd person singular)
• drove,
  past
• drave,
  past (Archaic)
• driven,
  past participle
• driving
  present participle

1. to send, expel, or otherwise cause to move by force or compulsion: to drive back an attacking army;

   to drive away the flies;

   to drive back an attacking army;

   to drive a person to desperation.

   Synonyms:

   force, push

2. to cause and guide the movement of (a vehicle, an animal, etc.): to drive a mule.

   to drive a car;

   to drive a mule.

3. to convey in a vehicle.

   She drove them to the station.

4. to force to work or act.

   He drove the workers until they collapsed.

5. to impel; constrain; urge; compel.

6. to carry (business, an agreement, etc.) vigorously through.

   He drove a hard bargain.

7. to keep (machinery) going.

8. Baseball.

   1. to cause the advance of (a base runner) by hitting a fair ball.

      Another blast off of Miller’s bat drives Rojas from first base all the way to third.

   2. to cause (a run) to be scored by hitting a fair ball.

      She drove in two runs in the sixth inning.

9. Golf. to hit (a golf ball), especially from the tee, as with a driver or driving iron.

   She drove the ball within ten feet of the pin.

10. Sports.

    1. to hit or propel (a ball, puck, shuttlecock, etc.) very hard.

    2. to kick (a ball) with much force.

11. Hunting.

    1. to chase (game).

    2. to search (a district) for game.

12. to float (logs) down a river or stream.

13. (in mining, construction, etc.) to excavate (a mine or tunnel heading).

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verb (used without object)

• drives,
  present (3rd person singular)
• drove,
  past
• drave,
  past (Archaic)
• driven,
  past participle
• driving
  present participle

1. to cause and guide the movement of a vehicle or animal, especially to operate an automobile.

2. to go or travel in a driven vehicle.

   He drives to work with me.

3. Golf. to hit a golf ball, especially from the tee, as with a driver or driving iron.

   He drove long and straight throughout the match.

4. to strive vigorously toward a goal or objective; to work, play, or try wholeheartedly and with determination.

5. to go along before an impelling force; be impelled.

   The ship drove before the wind.

6. to rush or dash violently.

noun

• drives
  plural

1. the act of driving.

2. a trip in a vehicle, especially a short pleasure trip.

   a Sunday drive in the country.

3. an impelling along, as of game, cattle, or floating logs, in a particular direction.

4. the animals, logs, etc., thus driven.

5. Psychology. an inner urge that stimulates activity or inhibition; a basic or instinctive need: sex drive.

   the hunger drive;

   sex drive.

6. a vigorous onset or onward course toward a goal or objective.

   the drive toward the goal line.

7. a strong military offensive.

8. a united effort to accomplish some specific purpose, especially to raise money, as for a charity.

9. energy and initiative.

   a person with great drive.

   Synonyms:

   motivation, ambition, push

10. vigorous pressure or effort, as in business.

11. a road for vehicles, especially a scenic one, as in or along a park, or a short one, as an approach to a house.

12. Machinery. a driving mechanism, as of an automobile: chain drive.

    gear drive;

    chain drive.

13. Automotive. the point or points of power application to the roadway: four-wheel drive.

    front-wheel drive;

    four-wheel drive.

14. Computers. a storage device, as a flash drive, HDD, or SSD.

15. Sports.

    1. an act or instance of driving a ball, puck, shuttlecock, or the like.

    2. the flight of such a ball, puck, shuttlecock, or the like, that has been driven with much force.

16. Golf. a shot, especially with a driver or driving iron from the tee, that is intended to carry a great distance.

17. a hunt in which game is driven toward stationary hunters.

18. Electronics. excitation.

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a part of a machine or vehicle used for its propulsion.

verb phrase

1. drive at to attempt or intend to convey; allude to; suggest.

   What are you driving at?

idioms

1. let drive, to aim a blow or missile at; attack.

   He let drive at his pursuers.

drive British  

/ draɪv /

verb

1. to push, propel, or be pushed or propelled

2. to control and guide the movement of (a vehicle, draught animal, etc)

   to drive a car

3. (tr) to compel or urge to work or act, esp excessively

4. (tr) to goad or force into a specified attitude or state

   work drove him to despair

5. (tr) to cause (an object) to make or form (a hole, crack, etc)

   his blow drove a hole in the wall

6. to move or cause to move rapidly by striking or throwing with force

7. sport to hit (a ball) very hard and straight, as (in cricket) with the bat swinging more or less vertically

8. golf to strike (the ball) with a driver, as in teeing off

9. (tr)

   1. to chase (game) from cover into more open ground

   2. to search (an area) for game

10. to transport or be transported in a driven vehicle

11. (intr) to rush or dash violently, esp against an obstacle or solid object

    the waves drove against the rock

12. (tr) to carry through or transact with vigour (esp in the phrase drive a hard bargain )

13. (tr) to force (a component) into or out of its location by means of blows or a press

14. (tr) mining to excavate horizontally

15. (tr) to fell (a tree or trees) by the impact of another felled tree

16. 1. to cause to penetrate to the fullest extent

    2. to make clear by special emphasis

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noun

1. the act of driving

2. a trip or journey in a driven vehicle

3. 1. a road for vehicles, esp a private road leading to a house

   2. ( capital when part of a street name )

      Woodland Drive

4. vigorous or urgent pressure, as in business

5. a united effort, esp directed towards a common goal

   a charity drive

6. a large gathering of persons to play cards, etc See beetle drive whist drive

7. energy, ambition, or initiative

8. psychol a motive or interest, such as sex, hunger, or ambition, that actuates an organism to attain a goal

9. a sustained and powerful military offensive

10. 1. the means by which force, torque, motion, or power is transmitted in a mechanism

       fluid drive

    2. ( as modifier )

       a drive shaft

11. sport a hard straight shot or stroke

12. a search for and chasing of game towards waiting guns

13. electronics the signal applied to the input of an amplifier

Usage

What does drive mean? To drive is to cause and guide something that is moving, such as a car. To drive is also to cause to move forward by force, as when you drive flies away from your plate. Other senses of the verb drive describe moving something or someone, literally or figuratively. You can drive a hard bargain (make a good deal), drive yourself to exhaustion (work yourself too hard), drive a nail into a board (hit the nail into the board), and more. The noun drive also has many senses, related to the verb senses. A drive can be a trip in a vehicle, an inborn drive (push or urge) to succeed, and the act of driving a vehicle. Drive is also commonly used in sports, such as a drive on the golf course (a swing of the golf club, sending the ball a long way) and to drive (kick or propel) a ball down the sports field. Example: Drive down to the shop and ask for an application.

Synonym Usage

Drive, ride are used interchangeably to mean traveling in an automobile or, formerly, in a horse-drawn vehicle. These two words are not synonyms in other connections. To drive is to maneuver, guide, or steer the progress of a vehicle, animal, etc.: to drive a bus, a horse. To ride is to be carried about by an animal or be carried as a passenger in a vehicle: to ride a horse, a train, a bus.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• drivability
  noun
• predrive
  verb
• redrive
  verb
• drivable
  adjective
• driveable
  adjective
• nondrivable
  adjective
• nondriveable
  adjective
• undrivable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• drives
  plural

Participles

• driving
  present
• driven
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• drive
  simple
• drives
  simple
• have driven
  perfect
• has driven
  perfect
• am driving
  progressive
• are driving
  progressive
• is driving
  progressive
• have been driving
  perfect progressive
• has been driving
  perfect progressive

Past

• drave
  simple
• drove
  simple
• had driven
  perfect
• was driving
  progressive
• were driving
  progressive
• had been driving
  perfect progressive

Future

• will drive
  simple
• will have driven
  perfect
• will be driving
  progressive
• will have been driving
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of drive

First recorded before 900; Middle English drīven, Old English drīfan; cognate with Dutch drijven, Old Norse drīfa, Gothic dreiban, German treiben

Explanation

To drive is to operate or travel in a motor vehicle. You can drive a car, a bus, or a go-kart. Drive is one of those multi-functioning words with a lot of uses. In a very general sense it relates to pushing, or a push in a direction; drive and go go hand in hand. You could drive across country, drive cattle on a cattle drive, drive a golf ball by hitting it off a tee, drive prey into the open, clean your computer’s hard drive, or drive someone crazy. But do you really have the drive to do all that?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

drive drives drave drove driven driving

The drive towards younger players comes after Roberto Olabe replaced Monchi last September as president of football operations with a long-to-mid term directive on transfers.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

On a particularly tense drive, they are chased by scorching, wind-fueled wildfires and volcanic ash spewing from Mount Etna.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

The team from Science Tokyo, Tohoku University, and Nagoya Institute of Technology combined ultrafast laser spectroscopy with theoretical calculations to uncover a previously unknown intermediate electronic state that helps drive the transformation.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

That’s like my hobby because there are not many chances in L.A. that you get to drive across bridges of that magnitude.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

“We’ll drive by Courtney’s house at noon,” Jeff said, grinning as if it were his idea.

From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott

Bret drives his father’s black Mercedes 450 SL convertible, which, according to the Mercedes archives, would have cost around $28,000 in 1979—about $124,000 today, adjusted for inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

The top four teams did not have drives available to him, which left him with options only to move to other teams in the sport's midfield.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

"Usually, it takes more power to store more information. Our device, however, consumes 100 times less power and the storage capacity is higher than traditional storage devices, like flash drives."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

AI frenzy drives Chinese tech valuations to multiples of U.S. peers.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

An eighteen-wheeler drives past, and that seems to be the only vehicle in either direction.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

Or so at least I thought at that time, even as I shielded my eyes under my bonnet and drave through the snow with the pistols loose in my belt.

From The Men of the Moss-Hags Being a history of adventure taken from the papers of William Gordon of Earlstoun in Galloway by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

Then Sir Gareth laughed, and said, "Say you so?" and therewith he drave past all those esquires and Lynette and the dwarf went with him and no one dared to stay him.

From The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions by Howard Pyle

For each drave spur into steed and shouted aloud so that each charger recovered his feet and fell not.

From The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions by Howard Pyle

So folk within that country fair Lived on, nor from their memories drave The thought of what they could not have.

From The Earthly Paradise A Poem by William Morris

Winstanley chose him men and gear; He said, "My time I waste," For the seas ran seething up the shore, And the wrack drave on in haste.

From The Land of Song, Book II For lower grammar grades by Various

"I drove into Moscow yesterday from the provinces," says Lyubov.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

The conflict in the Middle East drove a decline in exports to that region, which accounts for about 10% of Swiss watch exports.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

With many Americans already feeling pinched after postpandemic inflation drove up the prices of goods and services, that could be a recipe for even greater economic malaise.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

Usila Koech and her husband, Amos Koech, drove in from Las Vegas to send off their son, Kiprotich.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

He drove us around the chair, toward the desk.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

When I looked into the crowd, I saw my cousins and best friend I’d played with as a child, all of whom had driven in from Burbank, Thousand Oaks and Santa Clarita.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

She thinks the rise in autism diagnoses is driven by a "late-diagnosed group, mainly females".

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

After an abnormally warm winter and a blistering March heat wave, California has seen a surge in mosquito activity that has driven West Nile virus activity to a five-year high.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

Prices in Canada for chemicals and chemical products fell 3.4%, driven by fertilizers, pesticides and other chemical products as well as lower prices for plastic resins.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

And with each blast of noise, they were driven farther and farther away.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

But Sargent’s work has drawn attention to the role that the government’s fiscal policy can play in driving inflation, too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Today, the chef’s perfect Sunday is a foodie’s dream — sampling food from around L.A. by driving to different parts of the city, and savoring his alone time the entire day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

That will reduce - but not eliminate - the energy starvation suffered by the engines, and as a consequence make driving the cars feel more enjoyable.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

In fairness to the administration, though, it’s not clear that Trump and Bessent can fix all the factors driving up yields.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

“Even the car wants us to stop driving and go home.”

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Related Words

• cruise
• drag
• fly
• guide
• operate
• propel
• push
• ride
• run
• send
• speed
• spin
• start
• steer
• transport
• travel
• turn