drive - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English driven, from Old English drīfan (“to drive, force, move”), from Proto-West Germanic *drīban, from Proto-Germanic *drībaną (“to drive”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”).

Cognates

Cognate with Scots drive (“to drive”), Yola dhreeve, dhrive, dreeve, drieve, drive (“to drive”), North Frisian driiv, driiw, driwe (“to drive”), West Frisian driuwe (“to drive; to float”), Alemannic German triibe (“to drive”), Dutch drijven (“to drive, push”), German treiben (“to drive, push, propel”), Low German drieven (“to drive, drift, push”), Luxembourgish dreiwen (“to drive, propel”), Yiddish טרײַבן (traybn, “to drive”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål drive (“to drive, propel”), Icelandic drífa (“to drive”), Norwegian Nynorsk driva, drive (“to drive, move; to propel; to run”), Swedish driva (“to drive, compel; to drift; to run”), Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (dreiban, “to drive”).

drive (third-person singular simple present drives, present participle driving, simple past drove or (archaic) drave or (dialectal) driv, past participle driven or (dialectal) druv or (dialectal) drove)

  1. To operate a vehicle:
    1. (transitive, ergative) To operate (a wheeled motorized vehicle).
      Synonym: ride
      Hyponym: test-drive
      The bridges weren't strong enough to drive (campers) over.
      This SUV drives insanely smoothly—it's like it knows what I want before I do.
    2. (intransitive) To travel by operating a wheeled motorized vehicle.
      Synonym: motorvate
      I drive to work every day.
    3. (transitive) To convey (a person, etc.) in a wheeled motorized vehicle.
      Synonym: take
      My cousin drove me to the airport.
    4. (transitive, slang, aviation) To operate (an aircraft); to pilot.
      Synonyms: fly, pilot
      drive a 737
    5. (transitive, intransitive) To direct a vehicle powered by a horse, ox or similar animal.
  2. To compel to move:
    1. (transitive) (especially of animals) To impel or urge onward by force; to push forward; to compel to move on.
      Synonyms: drove, goad, herd
      to drive twenty thousand head of cattle from Texas to the Kansas railheads; to drive sheep out of a field
    2. (transitive) (especially animals) To cause to flee out of.
      Synonyms: flush, flush out, scare up
      The hunting dog drove the birds out of the tall grass.
      We'll drive the enemy from these lands once and for all.
  3. To cause to move by the application of physical force:
    1. (transitive) To provide an impetus for motion or other physical change, to move an object by means of the provision of force thereto.
      Synonyms: force, push
      You drive nails into wood with any hammer; it's not as strenuous as driving a tunnel through the rock.
      • 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:
        Moving very quietly, I crept up the stairs, and at the top drove one drawing-pin into the lintel about a foot up, another at the same height into the baluster opposite […]
    2. (transitive) To cause (a mechanism) to operate.
      Synonyms: move, operate
      The pistons drive the crankshaft.
    3. (intransitive, sports, cricket, tennis, baseball) To hit the ball with a drive.
    4. (transitive) To separate the lighter (feathers or down) from the heavier, by exposing them to a current of air.
  4. (transitive) To displace either physically or non-physically, through the application of force.
  5. To compel to undergo a non-physical change:
    1. (transitive) To provide an impetus for a change in one's situation or state of mind.
      My husband's constant harping about the condition of the house threatens to drive me to distraction.
    2. (transitive) To motivate; to provide an incentive for.
      Synonyms: impel, incentivise, incentivize, push, urge; see also Thesaurus:incite
      What drives a person to run a marathon?
    3. (transitive) To compel, exert pressure, coerce (to do something).
      Synonyms: compel, force, oblige, push, require
      Their debts finally drove them to sell the business.
    4. (transitive) To cause to become.
      Synonyms: make, send, render
      This constant complaining is going to drive me insane.
      You are driving me crazy!
    5. (transitive) To motivate through the application or demonstration of force; to impel or urge onward in such a way.
      Synonyms: coerce, intimidate, threaten; see also Thesaurus:intimidate
      Frothing at the mouth and threatening expulsion, Coach relentlessly drove the team to more laps of the pitch.
      • 1881, “Thucydides”, in Benjamin Jowett, transl., History of the Peloponnesian War‎[2], Oxford: Clarendon, Volume I, Book 4, p. 247:
        […] Demosthenes desired them first to put in at Pylos and not to proceed on their voyage until they had done what he wanted. They objected, but it so happened that a storm came on and drove them into Pylos.
    6. (transitive) To urge, press, or bring to a point or state.
      The negotiations were driven to completion minutes before the final deadline.
      If you drive yourself so much, you'll end up having a breakdown.
      • 2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:
        And now we're waiting for the very same people to establish GBR, drive through urgently needed fares reform, and come up with imaginative and effective train operating contracts...
  6. (intransitive) To move forcefully.
    Synonyms: onrush, plough
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
      […] Unequal match’d,
      Pyrrhus at Priam drives, in rage strikes wide;
    • 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, lines 146-148:
      Thus while the Pious Prince his Fate bewails,
      Fierce Boreas drove against his flying Sails.
      And rent the Sheets […]
    • 1855, William H[ickling] Prescott, chapter 1, in History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, book I, page 7:
      Charles, ill in body and mind, and glad to escape from his enemies under cover of the night and a driving tempest, was at length compelled to sign the treaty of Passau […]
    • 1898, H.G. Wells, “The "Thunder Child."”, in The War of the Worlds‎[4], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, retrieved 24 November 2022, page 175:
      It would seem they were regarding this new antagonist with astonishment. To their intelligence, it may be, the giant was even such another as themselves. The Thunder Child fired no gun, but simply drove full speed towards them. It was probably her not firing that enabled her to get so near the enemy as she did. They did not know what to make of her. One shell, and they would have sent her to the bottom forthwith with the Heat-Ray.
    • 2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2-2 Arsenal”, in BBC:
      The impressive Frenchman drove forward with purpose down the right before cutting infield and darting in between Vassiriki Diaby and Koscielny.
  7. (intransitive) To be moved or propelled forcefully (especially of a ship).
  8. (transitive) To carry or to keep in motion; to conduct; to prosecute.
    Synonyms: continue, carry on, pursue
    • 1694, Jeremy Collier, “Of General Kindness”, in Miscellanies in Five Essays‎[6], London: Sam. Keeble & Jo. Hindmarsh, page 69:
      You know the Trade of Life can’t be driven without Partners; there is a reciprocal Dependance between the Greatest and the Least.
  9. (transitive) To clear, by forcing away what is contained.
    Synonyms: empty, evacuate, void
    • 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, lines 744-745:
      We come not with design of wastful Prey,
      To drive the Country, force the Swains away:
  10. (mining) To dig horizontally; to cut a horizontal gallery or tunnel.
    Synonym: tunnel
  1. (American football) To put together a drive (n.): to string together offensive plays and advance the ball down the field.
  2. (obsolete) To distrain for rent.
  3. To be the dominant party in a sex act. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
    Synonym: dominate

Conjugation of drive

infinitive (to) drive
present tense past tense
1st-person singular drive drove, driv1, drave†
2nd-person singular drive, drivest† drove, driv1, drovest†, drave†, dravest†
3rd-person singular drives, driveth† drove, driv1, drave†
plural drive
subjunctive drive drove, driv1, drave†
imperative drive —
participles driving driven, druv1, drove1

to operate (a wheeled motorized vehicle) — see also pilot

to travel by operating a motorized vehicle

to convey (a person, etc) in a wheeled motorized vehicle

to impel or urge (especially animals) onward by force; to push forward; to compel to move on

to cause animals to flee out of

to move (something) by hitting it with great force

to cause (a mechanism) to operate

(cricket, tennis, baseball) to hit the ball with a drive

to displace either physically or non-physically, through the application of force

to motivate; to provide an incentive for

to compel (to do something)

to cause to become

(intransitive) to move forcefully

to be moved or propelled forcefully (especially of a ship)

drive (countable and uncountable, plural drives)

  1. Planned, usually long-lasting, effort to achieve something; ability coupled with ambition, determination, and motivation.
    Synonyms: ambition, grit, push, verve, motivation, get-up-and-go, self-motivation
    Antonyms: inertia, lack of motivation, laziness, phlegm, sloth
    Crassus had wealth and wit, but Pompey had drive and Caesar as much again.
    • 1951 December, Michael Robbins, “John Francis's "History of the English Railway"”, in Railway Magazine, page 800:
      As we contemplate the half-finished arterial roads and electrification plans of our own age, and the town-planning schemes that gather dust in the public libraries, we can admire the drive and action of the railway pioneers.
    • 1986, Fred Matheny, Solo Cycling: How to Train and Race Bicycle Time Trials, page 136:
      I confess that the sight of my minute man ahead, getting closer and closer, gives me a little more drive even when I think I am going as fast as I can.
    • 2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 11:37 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron‎[7], archived from the original on 29 November 2024:
      Although British involvement in the slave trade prior to 1807 cannot be denied, or its effects diminished, it is also a fact that the Royal Navy was pretty much the only force in the world in the 19th century with the numbers, drive, willingness, firepower, and capability to curtail the global slave trade, and that, without these efforts, many more would no doubt have been taken to slave plantations and other such destinations during the 19th, and possibly even into the 20th, centuries, as it must be remembered that a great many European powers would only begrudgingly commit to ending the slave trade when the other option was continuous war with the British Empire.
  2. Violent or rapid motion; a rushing onward or away; (especially) a forced or hurried dispatch of business.
    • 1881, Matthew Arnold, The Incompatibles:
      The Murdstonian drive in business.
  3. An act of driving (prompting) animals forward.
    1. An act of driving game animals forward, to be captured or hunted.
      • 1955, Robin Jenkins, The Cone-Gatherers, Canongate, published 2012, page 79:
        Are you all ready?’ he cried, and set off towards the dead ash where the drive would begin.
    2. An act of driving livestock animals forward, to transport a herd.
      Synonyms: drove, drift
  4. (military) A sustained advance in the face of the enemy to take an objective.
    Synonyms: attack, push
    • 1941 August, Charles E. Lee, “Railways of Italian East Africa—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 340:
      On the other hand, in Eritrea (once our Forces had recaptured Kassala on January 19) the drive was generally eastward towards the capital, Asmara, and the Red Sea port of Massaua.
  5. A mechanism used to power or give motion to a vehicle or other machine or machine part.
    Synonyms: gear, engine, motor
    a typical steam drive
    a nuclear drive
    chain drive
    front-wheel drive
    Some old model trains have clockwork drives.
    • 1958 April, “Diesel Railbus for British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 275:
      A universal joint shaft takes the drive to the final drive unit mounted centrally on one of the axles.
    • 2001, Michael Hereward Westbrook, The Electric Car, IET, →ISBN, page 146:
      Heat engine-electric hybrid vehicles : The hybrid vehicle on which most development work has been done to date is the one that couples a heat engine with an electric drive system. The objective remains the same as it was in 1900:
  6. A trip made in a vehicle (now generally in a motor vehicle).
    Synonyms: ride, spin, trip
    It was a long drive.
    • 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White‎[8]:
      We merely waited to rouse good Mrs. Vesey from the place which she still occupied at the deserted luncheon-table, before we entered the open carriage for our promised drive.
  7. A driveway.
    Synonyms: approach, driveway
    The mansion had a long, tree-lined drive.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.
    • 1957 December, H. R. Stones, “The Hellingly Hospital Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 871:
      Halfway from Hellingly Station, the railway enters the well-kept hospital grounds, and runs parallel with a tree-lined drive about half a mile long.
  8. A type of public roadway.
    Synonyms: avenue, boulevard, road, street
    Beverly Hills’ most famous street is Rodeo Drive.
  9. (automotive) The gear into which one usually shifts an automatic transmission when one is driving a car or truck. (Denoted with symbol D on a shifter's labeling.)
    Normally you should be in drive, although you can select a lower gear such as 2 or 1 for certain conditions, such as prolonged downhill stretches.
  10. (dated) A place suitable or agreeable for driving; a road prepared for driving.
  11. (psychology) Desire or interest.
    Synonyms: desire, impetus, impulse, urge
  1. (computer hardware) An apparatus for reading and writing data to or from a mass storage device such as a disk.
    Synonym: disk drive
    Hyponym: floppy drive
  2. (computer hardware) A mass storage device in which the mechanism for reading and writing data is integrated with the mechanism for storing data.
    Hyponyms: hard drive, flash drive
  3. (golf) A stroke made with a driver.
  4. (baseball, tennis) A ball struck in a flat trajectory.
  5. (cricket) A type of shot played by swinging the bat in a vertical arc, through the line of the ball, and hitting it along the ground, normally between cover and midwicket.
  6. (soccer) A straight level shot or pass.
  1. (American football) An offensive possession, generally one consisting of several plays and/ or first downs, often leading to a scoring opportunity.
  2. (philanthropy) A charity event such as a fundraiser, bake sale, or toy drive.
    a whist drive
    a beetle drive
  3. (retail) A campaign aimed at selling more of a certain product or promoting a public service.
    vaccination drive
  4. (typography) An impression or matrix formed by a punch drift.
  5. A collection of objects that are driven; a mass of logs to be floated down a river.
  6. (UK, especially Bristol and Wales, slang) Friendly term of address for a bus driver.

violent or rapid motion; a rushing onward or away; especially, a forced or hurried dispatch of business

act of driving animals forward

military: sustained advance

mechanism used to power a vehicle

trip made in a motor vehicle

driveway

type of public roadway

psychology: desire or interest

computing: mass-storage device

cricket: type of shot

soccer: straight level shot or pass

typography: impression or matrix formed by a punch drift

a collection of objects that are driven; a mass of logs to be floated down a river

From Old Danish drivæ, from Old Norse drífa, from Proto-Germanic *drībaną, cognate with Swedish driva, English drive, Dutch drijven, German treiben.

drive (imperative driv, present driver, past drev, past participle drevet, c dreven, definite or plural drevne)

  1. (transitive) to force, drive, impel (to put in motion)
  2. (transitive) to run (a business)
  3. (transitive) to engage in, carry on (an activity or an interest)
  4. (transitive) to power (to give power to)
  5. (intransitive) to drift, float (to move slowly)

From Old Norse drífa f, derived from the verb.

drive c (singular definite driven, plural indefinite driver)

  1. drift (a pile of snow)

From English drive.

drive c (singular definite driven, not used in plural form)

  1. (psychology) drive (desire or interest, self-motivation)

drive n (singular definite drivet, plural indefinite drives)

  1. (golf) drive (stroke made with a driver)

drive

  1. inflection of driver:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

From Old Norse drífa, from Proto-Germanic *drībaną, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”). Compare with Swedish driva, Icelandic drífa, English drive, Dutch drijven, German treiben.

drive (imperative driv, present tense driver, passive drives, simple past drev or dreiv, past participle drevet, present tense drivende)

  1. to move; turn
  2. to pursue
  3. to deviate
  4. to float; drift
  5. to operate; run
  6. to follow
  7. to drive, propel

drive (present tense driv, past tense dreiv, supine **drive, past participle driven, present participle drivande, imperative driv)

  1. alternative form of driva

Unadapted borrowing from English drive.

drive (Brazil) m or (Portugal) f (plural drives)

  1. (computer hardware) drive (a mass-storage device)

Derived from the verb, from Old English drīfan.

drive (plural drives)

  1. a drive
  2. a forceful blow, a swipe

drive (third-person singular present drives, present participle drivin, past drave, past participle driven)

  1. to drive

drive

  1. alternative form of dhreeve
    • 1867, DR. RUSSELL ON THE INHABITANTS AND DIALECT OF THE BARONY OF FORTH, page 132:
      Tommeen was eepit t' drive in
      [Tommy was put to drive in]