drive
verbCA, US, UK /dɹaɪv/ · AU /dɹɑev/
Etymology
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”).
26 senses
- 1To operate (a wheeled motorized vehicle).
- 2To travel by operating a wheeled motorized vehicle.
- 3To convey (a person, etc.) in a wheeled motorized vehicle.
- 4To operate (an aircraft); to pilot.
- 5To direct a vehicle powered by a horse, ox or similar animal.
- 6(especially of animals) To impel or urge onward by…
- 7(especially animals) To cause to flee out of.
- 8To provide an impetus for motion or other physical…
- 9To cause (a mechanism) to operate.
- 10To hit the ball with a drive.
- 11To separate the lighter (feathers or down) from the…
- 12To displace either physically or non-physically, through…
- 13To provide an impetus for a change in one's situation or…
- 14To motivate; to provide an incentive for.
- 15To compel, exert pressure, coerce (to do something).
- 16To cause to become.
- 17To motivate through the application or demonstration of…
- 18To urge, press, or bring to a point or state.
- 19To move forcefully.
- 20To be moved or propelled forcefully (especially of a ship).
- 21To carry or to keep in motion; to conduct; to prosecute.
- 22To clear, by forcing away what is contained.
- 23To dig horizontally; to cut a horizontal gallery or tunnel.
- 24To put together a drive (n.): to string together…
- 25To distrain for rent.
- 26To be the dominant party in a sex act.
› To operate a vehicle:
1
Ergative To operate (a wheeled motorized vehicle).
- 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
To travel by operating a wheeled motorized vehicle.
- I drive to work every day.
3
To convey (a person, etc.) in a wheeled motorized vehicle.
- My cousin drove me to the airport.
4
Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Slang To operate (an aircraft); to pilot.
- drive a 737
5
To direct a vehicle powered by a horse, ox or similar animal.
- There is a litter ready; lay him in’t And drive towards Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet Both welcome and protection.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi]:
- We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
› To compel to move:
6
(especially of animals) To impel or urge onward by force; to push forward; to compel to move on.
- to drive twenty thousand head of cattle from Texas to the Kansas railheads; to drive sheep out of a field
7
(especially animals) To cause to flee out of.
- The hunting dog drove the birds out of the tall grass.
- We'll drive the enemy from these lands once and for all.
› To cause to move by the application of…
8
To provide an impetus for motion or other physical change, to move an object by means of the provision of force thereto.
- You drive nails into wood with any hammer; it's not as strenuous as driving a tunnel through the rock.
- 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 […]1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
9
To cause (a mechanism) to operate.
- The pistons drive the crankshaft.
11
To separate the lighter (feathers or down) from the heavier, by exposing them to a current of air.
12
To displace either physically or non-physically, through the application of force.
- One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail; Rights by rights falter, strengths by strengths do fail.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:
› To compel to undergo a non-physical change:
13
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.
14
To motivate; to provide an incentive for.
- What drives a person to run a marathon?
15
To compel, exert pressure, coerce (to do something).
- Their debts finally drove them to sell the business.
- He driuen to dismount, threatned, if I did not the like, to doo as much for my horse, as Fortune had done for his.c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
1 more example
- But darkness and the gloomy shade of death Environ you, till mischief and despair Drive you to break your necks or hang yourselves!1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:
16
To cause to become.
- This constant complaining is going to drive me insane.
- You are driving me crazy!
2 more examples
- 1855, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Maud, XXV, 1. in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, p. 90, And then to hear a dead man chatter Is enough to drive one mad.
- One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
17
To motivate through the application or demonstration of force; to impel or urge onward in such a way.
- Frothing at the mouth and threatening expulsion, Coach relentlessly drove the team to more laps of the pitch.
- […] 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.1881, “Thucydides”, in Benjamin Jowett, transl., History of the Peloponnesian War, Oxford: Clarendon, Volume I, Book 4, p. 247:
18
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.
1 more example
- 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...2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:
19
To move forcefully.
- […] Unequal match’d, Pyrrhus at Priam drives, in rage strikes wide;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]:
- Thus while the Pious Prince his Fate bewails, Fierce Boreas drove against his flying Sails. And rent the Sheets […]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:
4 more examples
- Time driveth onward fast, And in a little while our lips are dumb.1833, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Lotos-Eaters”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, page 113:
- 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 […]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:
- 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.1898, H.G. Wells, “The "Thunder Child."”, in The War of the Worlds, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, retrieved 24 Nov 2022, page 175:
- The impressive Frenchman drove forward with purpose down the right before cutting infield and darting in between Vassiriki Diaby and Koscielny.2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2-2 Arsenal”, in BBC:
20
To be moved or propelled forcefully (especially of a ship).
- […] as a duck for life that dives, So up and down the poor ship drives:c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry Gosson, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act III, prologue]:
- […] the Captain […] order’d the Cable to be cut, and let the Ship drive nearer the Land, where she soon beat to pieces:1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, page 12:
21
To carry or to keep in motion; to conduct; to prosecute.
- You know the Trade of Life can’t be driven without Partners; there is a reciprocal Dependance between the Greatest and the Least.1694, Jeremy Collier, “Of General Kindness”, in Miscellanies in Five Essays, London: Sam. Keeble & Jo. Hindmarsh, page 69:
22
To clear, by forcing away what is contained.
- We come not with design of wastful Prey, To drive the Country, force the Swains away: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:
- 1852-1866, Charles Tomlinson, Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures If the miners find no ore, they drive or cut a gallery from the pit a short distance at right angles to the direction of the lodes found
24
American football, Ball games, Football, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To put together a drive (n.): to string together offensive plays and advance the ball down the field.
25
Obsolete To distrain for rent.
26
To be the dominant party in a sex act.
- Derived terms
94 terms
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