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drive-through

[drahyv-throo]
noun
  1. the act of driving through a specified locality or place, especially driving into a place of business, completing a transaction from one's car, and driving out: a quick drive-through of Beverly Hills; The bank has outside tellers' windows to accept deposits by drive-through.
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adjective
  1. designed to accommodate or arranged for a drive-through: a drive-through zoo; a drive-through car wash.
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Origin of drive-through

First recorded in 1970–75; noun, adj. use of verb phrase drive through
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for drive-through

Historical Examples of drive-through

  • They had a hasty supper of burgers at a drive-through and then went back to the jungle-gym project.

    Makers

    Cory Doctorow

Word Origin and History for drive-through

adj.

1949 (in an advertisement for the Beer Vault Drive-Thru in Ann Arbor, Michigan), from drive (v.) + through.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper