drive

English Online Dictionary. What means drive‎? What does drive mean?

English

Alternative forms

• (type of public roadway): Dr. (when part of a specific street’s name)

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”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: drīv, IPA^(key): /dɹaɪv/, [d͡ʒɹaɪv], [d̠ɹ̠ ̝ʷaɪv]
• Rhymes: -aɪv

Verb

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

   2. (intransitive) To travel by operating a wheeled motorized vehicle.

      Synonym: motorvate

   3. (transitive) To convey (a person, etc.) in a wheeled motorized vehicle.

      Synonym: take

   4. (transitive, slang, aviation) To operate (an aircraft); to pilot.

      Synonyms: fly, pilot

   5. (transitive, intransitive) To direct a vehicle powered by a horse, ox or similar animal.
2. To compel to move:
   2. (transitive) (especially of animals) To impel or urge onward by force; to push forward; to compel to move on.

      Synonyms: drove, goad, herd

   4. (transitive) (especially animals) To cause to flee out of.

      Synonyms: flush, flush out, scare up

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

   2. (transitive) To cause (a mechanism) to operate.

      Synonyms: move, operate

   4. (intransitive, sports, cricket, tennis, baseball) To hit the ball with a drive.
   5. (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.

   2. (transitive) To motivate; to provide an incentive for.

      Synonyms: impel, incentivise, incentivize, push, urge; see also Thesaurus:incite

   3. (transitive) To compel, exert pressure, coerce (to do something).

      Synonyms: compel, force, oblige, push, require
   4. (transitive) To cause to become.

      Synonyms: make, send, render

      • 1855, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Maud, XXV, 1. in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, p. 90,^[1]

        And then to hear a dead man chatter

        Is enough to drive one mad.
   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
   6. (transitive) To urge, press, or bring to a point or state.
6. (intransitive) To move forcefully.

   Synonyms: onrush, plough
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
9. (transitive) To clear, by forcing away what is contained.

   Synonyms: empty, evacuate, void
10. (mining) To dig horizontally; to cut a horizontal gallery or tunnel.

    Synonym: tunnel

    • 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

11. (American football) To put together a drive (n.): to string together offensive plays and advance the ball down the field.
12. (obsolete) To distrain for rent.
13. To be the dominant party in a sex act. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

    Synonym: dominate

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Russian: драйв (drajv)
• → Scottish Gaelic: draibh
• → Ukrainian: драйв (drajv)

Translations

Noun

drive (countable and uncountable, plural drives)

2. 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
3. Violent or rapid motion; a rushing onward or away; (especially) a forced or hurried dispatch of business.
4. An act of driving (prompting) animals forward.
   1. An act of driving game animals forward, to be captured or hunted.
   2. An act of driving livestock animals forward, to transport a herd.

      Synonyms: drove, drift

5. (military) A sustained advance in the face of the enemy to take an objective.

   Synonyms: attack, push
6. A mechanism used to power or give motion to a vehicle or other machine or machine part.

   Synonyms: gear, engine, motor
7. A trip made in a vehicle (now generally in a motor vehicle).

   Synonyms: ride, spin, trip
8. A driveway.

   Synonyms: approach, driveway
9. A type of public roadway.

   Synonyms: avenue, boulevard, road, street

10. (dated) A place suitable or agreeable for driving; a road prepared for driving.
11. (psychology) Desire or interest.

    Synonyms: desire, impetus, impulse, urge

    • 1995 March 2, John Carman, "Believe It, You Saw It in Sweeps", SFGate [9]

      On the latter show, former Playboy Playmate Carrie Westcott said she'd never met a man who could match her sexual drive.

12. (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

13. (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

14. (golf) A stroke made with a driver.
16. (baseball, tennis) A ball struck in a flat trajectory.
17. (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.
18. (soccer) A straight level shot or pass.
19. (American football) An offensive possession, generally one consisting of several plays and/ or first downs, often leading to a scoring opportunity.
20. (philanthropy) A charity event such as a fundraiser, bake sale, or toy drive.

21. (retail) A campaign aimed at selling more of a certain product or promoting a public service.

22. (typography) An impression or matrix formed by a punch drift.
23. A collection of objects that are driven; a mass of logs to be floated down a river.
24. (UK, especially Bristol and Wales, slang) Friendly term of address for a bus driver.

Usage notes

• In connection with a mass-storage device, originally the word "drive" referred solely to the reading and writing mechanism. For the storage device itself, the word "disk" or "disc" (depending on the type of device) was used instead. This remains a valid distinction for components such as floppy drives or CD drives, in which the drive and the disk are separate and independent items. For other devices, such as hard disks and flash drives, the reading, writing and storage components are combined into an integrated whole, and cannot be separated without destroying the device. In these cases, the words "disk" and "drive" are used interchangeably.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Verdi, deriv., diver, rived, vired

Danish

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /driːvə/, [ˈd̥ʁiːʋə], [ˈd̥ʁiːʊ]

Verb

drive (past tense drev, past participle drevet, attributive common dreven, attributive definite and 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)

Conjugation

Derived terms

References

• “drive,3” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology 2

From Old Norse drífa f, derived from the verb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /driːvə/, [ˈd̥ʁiːʋə], [ˈd̥ʁiːʊ]

Noun

drive c (singular definite driven, plural indefinite driver)

1. drift (a pile of snow)

Declension

Derived terms

• snedrive

References

• “drive,1” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology 3

From English drive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /drajv/, [ˈd̥ɹɑjʋ]

Noun

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

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

Declension

Noun

drive n (singular definite drivet, plural indefinite drives)

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

Declension

References

• “drive,2” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʁajv/
• Homophones: drivent, drives

Verb

drive

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

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

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.

Verb

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

Derived terms

References

• “drive” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

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

1. Alternative form of driva

Derived terms

• drivverdig
• fordrive

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English drive.

Pronunciation

Noun

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

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

Scots

Etymology

Derived from the verb, from Old English drīfan.

Noun

drive (plural drives)

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

Verb

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

1. to drive

Yola

Verb

drive

1. Alternative form of dhreeve

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 132