drive-by

[drahyv-bahy]

noun

plural

drive-bys 

1. the action of driving by a specified locality, object, etc..

   a drive-by of Nelson's Monument.

2. a drive-by shooting.

   The gang member was killed in a drive-by.

adjective

1. consisting of or featuring a drive-by.

   We boarded the sightseeing bus for a drive-by tour of the nation's capital.

2. occurring while driving past a person, object, etc..

   a drive-by shooting.

3. casual; superficial; offhand.

   a drive-by news analysis.

4. involving a brief stay in a hospital, clinic, etc..

   a drive-by mastectomy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of drive-by¹

Noun, adj. use of verb phrase drive by

Example Sentences

Daniel Saldana, 56, was convicted in connection with a 1989 drive-by shooting outside a Baldwin Park high school football game that left two students injured.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But his drive-by attack on voclosporin caused a plunge in the share price of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, which makes the drug.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Tightening noise-emission standards in Europe and Asia have obliged Ferrari to lower the drive-by volume of its cars.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Yet the charismatic Tupac Amaru Shakur, a gifted emcee, actor and social activist — who was killed at the too-soon age of 25 in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting on Sept. 7, 1996 — was as much an eloquent voice of a generation as he was the self-destructive face of gangster rap.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The monuments are astonishing to see, if only because one typically encounters them as an outdoor drive-by, raised high on tall pedestals that lift them 10, 30, even 50 feet in the air.

Read more on Los Angeles Times