drive
to send, expel, or otherwise cause to move by force or compulsion: to drive away the flies;to drive back an attacking army;to drive a person to desperation.
to cause and guide the movement of (a vehicle, an animal, etc.): to drive a car;to drive a mule.
to convey in a vehicle: She drove them to the station.
to force to work or act: He drove the workers until they collapsed.
to carry (business, an agreement, etc.) vigorously through: He drove a hard bargain.
to keep (machinery) going.
Baseball.
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.
Sports.
to hit or propel (a ball, puck, shuttlecock, etc.) very hard.
to kick (a ball) with much force.
Hunting.
to chase (game).
to search (a district) for game.
to float (logs) down a river or stream.
(in mining, construction, etc.) to excavate (a mine or tunnel heading).
to cause and guide the movement of a vehicle or animal, especially to operate an automobile.
to go or travel in a driven vehicle: He drives to work with me.
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.
to strive vigorously toward a goal or objective; to work, play, or try wholeheartedly and with determination.
to go along before an impelling force; be impelled: The ship drove before the wind.
to rush or dash violently.
the act of driving.
a trip in a vehicle, especially a short pleasure trip: a Sunday drive in the country.
an impelling along, as of game, cattle, or floating logs, in a particular direction.
the animals, logs, etc., thus driven.
Psychology. an inner urge that stimulates activity or inhibition; a basic or instinctive need: the hunger drive;sex drive.
a vigorous onset or onward course toward a goal or objective: the drive toward the goal line.
a strong military offensive.
a united effort to accomplish some specific purpose, especially to raise money, as for a charity.
energy and initiative: a person with great drive.
vigorous pressure or effort, as in business.
a road for vehicles, especially a scenic one, as in or along a park, or a short one, as an approach to a house.
Machinery. a driving mechanism, as of an automobile: gear drive;chain drive.
Automotive. the point or points of power application to the roadway: front-wheel drive;four-wheel drive.
Computers. a storage device, as a flash drive, HDD, or SSD.
Sports.
an act or instance of driving a ball, puck, shuttlecock, or the like.
the flight of such a ball, puck, shuttlecock, or the like, that has been driven with much force.
Golf. a shot, especially with a driver or driving iron from the tee, that is intended to carry a great distance.
a hunt in which game is driven toward stationary hunters.
Electronics. excitation (def. 5).
noting or pertaining to a part of a machine or vehicle used for its propulsion.
drive at, to attempt or intend to convey; allude to; suggest: What are you driving at?
Idioms about drive
let drive, to aim a blow or missile at; attack: He let drive at his pursuers.
Origin of drive
1synonym study For drive
Other words for drive
Other words from drive
- driv·a·ble, drive·a·ble, adjective
- non·driv·a·ble, adjective
- non·drive·a·ble, adjective
- pre·drive, verb, pre·drove, pre·driv·en, pre·driv·ing.
- re·drive, verb, re·drove, re·driv·en, re·driv·ing.
- un·driv·a·ble, adjective
Words Nearby drive
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use drive in a sentence
The meal and merch are not only incredibly popular, but have spawned an entire TikTok meme, where people blast Scott’s “Sicko Mode” at the drive-thru instead of using their words to order.
McDonald’s Teaches Employees Travis Scott Catchphrases Because of TikTok Trend | Jaya Saxena | September 17, 2020 | EaterThe narrowing gap in both states is being driven by non-college-educated women.
Trump contradicts CDC director on vaccine; Biden says Americans shouldn’t trust Trump | Colby Itkowitz, Felicia Sonmez, John Wagner | September 16, 2020 | Washington PostWinnebago’s website lists a starting price of $175,000 for its popular four-wheel-drive Revel, and even a used Sprinter at Vanlife Customs will set you back at least $100,000.
Can’t Afford a Sprinter? Get a Tiny Van Instead. | Emily Pennington | September 16, 2020 | Outside OnlineIn categories such as credit cards, those commissions, particularly for publishers that drive high volumes of conversion, can run into the hundreds of dollars per user.
‘Helping people discover information’: How Red Ventures grew into a giant | Max Willens | September 16, 2020 | DigidayWhile von Spakovsky “hasn’t driven any policy decisions” that have taken place under the secretary, Fuchs said that she briefed von Spakovsky on her office’s actions regarding double voting and absentee ballots.
No Democrats Allowed: A Conservative Lawyer Holds Secret Voter Fraud Meetings With State Election Officials | by Mike Spies, Jake Pearson and Jessica Huseman | September 15, 2020 | ProPublica
He used to drive her to school once he came home from the Marines.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe hope was that greater transparency about performance would drive results.
The ‘No Child’ Rewrite Threatens Your Kids’ Future | Jonah Edelman | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTYou would only see it for a second, but it would drive you forward.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art | Alec Kubas-Meyer | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe traveling show arrived in Shreveport at 7:30 in the morning after an all-night drive.
How Martin Luther King Jr. Influenced Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ | Peter Guralnick | December 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWe prefer to wave away the warning signs; like The Interview, Mulholland drive was comfortably downplayed as over-the-top satire.
Pyongyang Shuffle: Hollywood In Dead Panic Over Sony Hack | James Poulos | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThen with your victorious legions you can march south and help drive the Yankee invaders from the land.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. DunnWordsworth has illustrated how an unwise and importunate demand for a reason from a child may drive him into invention.
Children's Ways | James SullyGive not up thy heart to sadness, but drive it from thee: and remember the latter end.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousIf they will come to our villages and drive us out a hundred at a time, what would they do to one man alone?
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonHe walked up the sweep of sandy drive to the hotel and went through the big glass doors.
The Wave | Algernon Blackwood
British Dictionary definitions for drive
/ (draɪv) /
to push, propel, or be pushed or propelled
to control and guide the movement of (a vehicle, draught animal, etc): to drive a car
(tr) to compel or urge to work or act, esp excessively
(tr) to goad or force into a specified attitude or state: work drove him to despair
(tr) to cause (an object) to make or form (a hole, crack, etc): his blow drove a hole in the wall
to move or cause to move rapidly by striking or throwing with force
sport to hit (a ball) very hard and straight, as (in cricket) with the bat swinging more or less vertically
golf to strike (the ball) with a driver, as in teeing off
(tr)
to chase (game) from cover into more open ground
to search (an area) for game
to transport or be transported in a driven vehicle
(intr) to rush or dash violently, esp against an obstacle or solid object: the waves drove against the rock
(tr) to carry through or transact with vigour (esp in the phrase drive a hard bargain)
(tr) to force (a component) into or out of its location by means of blows or a press
(tr) mining to excavate horizontally
(tr) NZ to fell (a tree or trees) by the impact of another felled tree
drive home
to cause to penetrate to the fullest extent
to make clear by special emphasis
the act of driving
a trip or journey in a driven vehicle
a road for vehicles, esp a private road leading to a house
(capital when part of a street name): Woodland Drive
vigorous or urgent pressure, as in business
a united effort, esp directed towards a common goal: a charity drive
British a large gathering of persons to play cards, etc: See beetle drive, whist drive
energy, ambition, or initiative
psychol a motive or interest, such as sex, hunger, or ambition, that actuates an organism to attain a goal
a sustained and powerful military offensive
the means by which force, torque, motion, or power is transmitted in a mechanism: fluid drive
(as modifier): a drive shaft
sport a hard straight shot or stroke
a search for and chasing of game towards waiting guns
electronics the signal applied to the input of an amplifier
Origin of drive
1Derived forms of drive
- drivable or driveable, adjective
- drivability or driveability, noun
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
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