verb (used with object),drove or (Archaic)drave,driv·en,driv·ing.
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 impel; constrain; urge; compel.
to carry (business, an agreement, etc.) vigorously through: He drove a hard bargain.
to keep (machinery) going.
Baseball.
to cause the advance of (a base runner) by a base hit or sacrifice fly: He drove him home with a scratch single.
to cause (a run) to be scored by a base hit or sacrifice fly: He drove in two runs.
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).
verb (used without object),drove or (Archaic)drave,driv·en,driv·ing.
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.
noun
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.
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.
2, 15. 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.
Old English drifan "to drive, force, hunt, pursue; rush against" (class I strong verb; past tense draf, past participle drifen), from Proto-Germanic *dribanan (cf. Old Frisian driva, Old Saxon driban, Dutch drijven, Old High German triban, German treiben, Old Norse drifa, Gothic dreiban "to drive"). Not found outside Germanic. Original sense of "pushing from behind," altered in Modern English by application to automobiles. Related: Driving.
MILLER: "The more you drive, the less intelligent you are." ["Repo Man," 1984]
drive
n.
1690s, "act of driving," from drive (v.). Meaning "excursion by vehicle" is from 1785. Golfing sense of "forcible blow" is from 1836. Meaning "organized effort to raise money" is 1889, American English. Sense of "dynamism" is from 1908. In the computing sense, first attested 1963.
Mean to do or say, as in I don't understand what he's driving at. Today this idiom, first recorded in 1579, is used mainly with the participle driving.
