drove1
[drohv]
- simple past tense of drive.
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drove2
[drohv]
- a number of oxen, sheep, or swine driven in a group; herd; flock.
- Usually droves. a large crowd of human beings, especially in motion: They came to Yankee Stadium in droves.
- Also called drove chisel. Masonry. a chisel, from 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) broad at the edge, for dressing stones to an approximately true surface.
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- to drive or deal in (cattle) as a drover; herd.
- Masonry. to work or smooth (stone) as with a drove.
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Origin of drove2
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com1. See flock1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for droves
Contemporary Examples
The result is that drone operators are leaving the Air Force in droves.
British aristocrats married American heiresses in droves in the early 1900s.
Despite the long-existing travel ban, Americans have already been visiting Cuba by the droves.
Shoppers from Mainland China arrived in droves, and gained front row seats to civil disobedience in action.
He would need professional assistance, which came in droves.
Historical Examples
Quail ran in droves and rose among the mesas like young thunder.
The Trail BookMary Austin
In they come of course, droves of them, and then I arrive and take the money.
The Stark Munro LettersJ. Stark Munro
And, worst of all, there were no droves of cattle tearing around.
The Night RidersRidgwell Cullum
They are pouring in here in droves; some are on their way to Italy.
Erasmus and the Age of ReformationJohan Huizinga
I should imagine that he was often amazed that men did not join in droves.
The Shellback's ProgressWalter Runciman
drove1
- the past tense of drive
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drove2
- a herd of livestock being driven together
- (often plural) a moving crowd of people
- a narrow irrigation channel
- Also called: drove chisel a chisel with a broad edge used for dressing stone
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- (tr)to drive (a group of livestock), usually for a considerable distance
- (intr)to be employed as a drover
- to work (a stone surface) with a drove
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Word Origin
Old English drāf herd; related to Middle Low German drēfwech cattle pasture; see drive, drift
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
Word Origin and History for droves
n.
see drove.
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drove
n.
Old English draf "beasts driven in a body, road along which cattle are driven," originally "act of driving," from drifan "to drive" (see drive (v.)).
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drove
Old English draf, past tense and obsolete past participle of drive (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper