driver
nounUK /ˈdɹaɪ.və/ · US /ˈdɹaɪvɚ/
Etymology From Middle English drivere, dryvere, dryvare, equivalent to drive + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Drieuwer (“driver”), Dutch drijver (“driver”), German Low German Driever (“driver”), German Treiber (“driver”), Swedish drivare (“driver”).
16 senses
- 1One who drives something.
- 2A person who drives a motorized vehicle such as a car…
- 3A pilot (person who flies aircraft).
- 4A person who drives livestock: a drover.
- 5Something that drives something else.
- 6A device driver; a program that acts as an interface…
- 7A golf club used to drive the ball a great distance.
- 8A kind of sail, smaller than a fore and aft spanker on a…
- 9A factor contributing to something; a cause.
- 10Any driving element in any mechanism, which drives the…
- 11A mallet.
- 12A tamping iron.
- 13A cooper's hammer for driving on barrel hoops.
- 14A screwdriver, a nutdriver, or a bit for such a tool…
- 15A device that converts an electrical signal to sound…
- 16A driving wheel of a locomotive.
1
One who drives something.
- Luke North was working in the North East District when Harry Patterson the pony driver came by. It was 5.45 o'clock. Luke smelt danger in the air. He walked round the pony to speak with Harry […]2016, John Swain, Digging Up The Pitmen, page 164:
2
A person who drives a motorized vehicle such as a car, truck, bus, train, forklift, etc.
- The driver will make an announcement when the trip is nearing its completion.
- Tipping your driver is optional but is much appreciated.
2 more examples
- That’s nearly twice the highest posted speed limit in the United States, 85 mph, on a stretch of highway in Texas. Why do our speedometers stretch to a speed that’s illegal, and only race-car drivers will ever reach? Toyota spokesman Paul Hogard said the automaker wants speedometers to be easy to read, so there’s value in placing the typical operating speed of American cars, 45 mph to 70 mph, he said, at the top of the speedometer, which is the easiest place on the speedometer for the driver to read.2022 September 10, Matt McFarland, “Why your car’s speedometer goes up to 160 mph (even when your car can’t)”, in CNN Business:
- Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began an investigation into four crashes of Teslas operating with a partial-automation system (which can navigate highways and steer the car on city streets but requires a licensed driver to be present), including one in which a pedestrian was killed. In a news release, NHTSA said reduced visibility may have led to the crashes.2024 December 25, Elaine S. Povich, “Self-driving cars aren’t here yet, but states are getting the rules ready”, in West Virginia Watch:
3
Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Slang A pilot (person who flies aircraft).
4
A person who drives livestock: a drover.
- Up until 1872 there was not over 150 miles of railroad in the state [Texas], that was from Galveston to Houston, and a short line from Houston to Brazoria, twenty-five miles in length, and one road from Harrisburg to Alton, three miles east of Columbus. So the cattle driving to Kansas was the only hope at that time, and it proved to be a great help before the railroads got around. Trail driving to Kansas lasted from 1866 to 1886 and it was estimated that fully eight million head of cattle and horses were driven and sold during the twenty years above mentioned to Kansas, the drivers paying for the cattle on an average of $10.00 per head, although most of the horses came back to Texas and were used the next year. There were all sizes of herds from five hundred to twenty-five hundred cattle in a drove, usually seven or eight men to the small herds and twelve to fifteen men with the large herds.1920, W.F. Cude, “Trail driving to Kansas and elsewhere”, in J. Marvin Hunter, editor, The Trail Drivers of Texas: Interesting Sketches of Early Cowboys and Their Experiences on the Range and on the Trail During the Days that Tried Men's Souls — True Narratives Related by Real Cowpunchers and Men who Fathered the Cattle Industry in Texas, volume 1, George W. Saunders, page 192:
5
Something that drives something else.
- The character of work is a driver of social change, at the same time that any new forms of work are the result of broader social change.2014, Bridgette Wessels, Exploring Social Change: Process and Context, page 106:
- The aim is to secure up to £140 million for the combined road and rail improvements, including a new road bridge to replace a level crossing at Totton. A key driver has been the approval of a new housing and employment development called Fawley Waterside, with 1,500 homes planned on the site of a redundant power station on the edge of Southampton Water.2020 December 16, “Network News: "Robust case" for Fawley branch reopening”, in Rail, page 14:
6
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A device driver; a program that acts as an interface between an application and hardware, written specifically for the device it controls.
- The brassey much resembled the driver, but the iron opened out quite a new field of practice; […]1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major:
9
A factor contributing to something; a cause.
- Compared with June 2023, consumers’ perceptions of the main drivers of inflation shifted towards wages, although other input costs were still seen as the strongest driver overall.2024, Pedro Baptista, Colm Bates, Omiros Kouvavas, Pedro Neves, Katia Werkmeister, “What consumers think is the main driver of recent inflation: changes in perceptions over time”, in European Central Bank Economic Bulletin Issue 7/2024:
10
Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Any driving element in any mechanism, which drives the driven element.
- The driver engages the follower intermittently, as dictated by the solenoid.
11
A mallet.
12
A tamping iron.
13
A cooper's hammer for driving on barrel hoops.
14
A screwdriver, a nutdriver, or a bit for such a tool; such bits include nutsetters.
- Among the driver and screw types available, you'll find several cross-slot varieties including the Reed & Prince […]1996, Popular Mechanics, volume 173, number 12:
15
Audio, Electrical engineering, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A device that converts an electrical signal to sound waves; the principal component of loudspeakers and headphones.
16
In plural A driving wheel of a locomotive.
- The later iterations of these locomotives had 56-inch drivers.
- With a toot on her chime whistle, No. 6 set her 3 ft. 9 in. drivers turning and we were off round the curve through Pennyburn works.1949 November and December, K. Longbottom, “By Goods Train to Gweedore”, in Railway Magazine, page 353:
- Derived terms
83 terms
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