# drive

Pronunciation: say "DRYV" /dɹaɪv/

## Verb

1. To operate and control a motor vehicle, or to travel somewhere in one that you are controlling.
   - Simple: To control a car or other vehicle, or to go somewhere in a car that you are controlling.
   - _He drives an electric sedan to reduce his fuel costs._
   - _Volunteers drive the shuttle bus between the two campuses._
3. To transport a person or thing in a wheeled motorized vehicle.
   - Simple: To take someone somewhere in a car or other vehicle.
   - _He drives his elderly neighbor to her appointments each week._
   - _We need someone to drive the team to the tournament._
5. To press or push something toward a particular point, level, or state.
   - Simple: To push something toward a certain point, level, or result.
   - _Speculation can drive prices to absurd heights._
   - _Lawyers drove the case to a swift settlement._
6. To strongly motivate, push or pressure someone to act in a particular way.
   - Simple: To make someone do something because of strong feelings, needs, or pressure.
   - _A desire for recognition drives many young entrepreneurs._
   - _Curiosity can drive researchers to spend years on a single problem._
7. To force or cause someone or something into a particular state or situation.
   - Simple: To make someone or something end up in a certain state or situation.
   - _The endless paperwork drove her to despair._
   - _Such pressure can drive a calm person to distraction._
8. To urge animals or people onward by force, pushing or compelling them to move.
   - Simple: To push or force animals or people to move forward.
   - _Herders drive their flocks down from the mountains before winter._
   - _Soldiers drove the prisoners ahead of them along the road._
9. To cause a mechanism to operate by supplying it with power or motion.
   - Simple: To make a machine or part work by giving it power.
   - _A small electric motor drives the belt that carries boxes across the warehouse floor._
   - _Two electric motors drive the pump in this system._
14. To set something in motion or change it physically by applying force to it.
   - Simple: To push or move something by using force.
   - _It took three hard swings to drive the nail into the old oak beam._
   - _The gusty wind drove dry leaves across the empty parking lot._
16. To carry on or keep an activity in motion; to conduct or pursue it.
   - Simple: To carry on an activity and keep it going, such as a business.
   - _Market sellers in the old town drive a hard bargain, so tourists rarely pay the first price they hear._
   - _Street vendors drove a brisk trade in umbrellas once the storm broke._
22. To move forward with force or strong momentum.
   - Simple: To move ahead with great force or speed.
   - _Sleet drove hard across the open field._
   - _The runners drive toward the finish in the final lap._
17. In cricket, tennis, or baseball, to strike the ball with force by playing the stroke known as a drive.
   - Simple: In cricket, tennis, or baseball, to hit the ball hard with the kind of shot called a drive.
   - _Leaning into the shot, the opener drove crisply through the covers for four._
   - _On slow clay courts she prefers to drive from well behind the baseline._

## Noun

2. A journey made in a vehicle, now usually a motor vehicle.
   - Simple: A trip you take in a car or other vehicle.
   - _They enjoyed a leisurely drive along the coastal highway._
   - _Our morning drive to the airport was slowed by heavy traffic._
4. A device that stores data or reads and writes data on a storage medium such as a hard disk, solid-state memory, or optical disc.
   - Simple: The part of a computer that stores data or reads discs, such as a hard drive.
   - _The technician replaced the failing drive before any data was lost._
   - _Cloud backups protect your files even if the drive stops working._
10. A mechanism that powers or transmits motion to a vehicle, machine, or machine part.
   - Simple: The part of a machine that makes it move or gives it power.
   - _Engineers upgraded the drive to handle the heavier load._
   - _The conveyor's drive failed, halting the entire production line._
11. A public roadway, especially a wide, scenic, or residential street used as a thoroughfare.
   - Simple: A public road or street, often a wide or scenic one.
   - _Shops and cafés line the busy drive that runs along the river._
   - _The city widened the lakeshore drive last year, adding bike lanes and new streetlights along the water._
12. The energy, determination, and ambition that make someone work hard and persistently to achieve a goal.
   - Simple: A strong wish to work hard and reach your goals.
   - _His relentless drive turned a small shop into a national chain._
   - _The team lacked the drive needed to reach the finals._
13. An innate desire or interest that prompts a person or animal to act.
   - Simple: A strong feeling that makes you want something.
   - _The sex drive is one of the most studied human motivations._
   - _Psychologists distinguish between biological drives and learned desires._
19. The gear setting on an automatic transmission, marked D, used for normal forward driving.
   - Simple: The setting on an automatic car that lets it move forward.
   - _He moved the lever from park to drive and eased forward._
   - _Leave the transmission in drive while waiting at the light._
20. A private road or paved path leading from the street to a house or garage.
   - Simple: The short private road that leads up to a house or garage.
   - _The taxi waited at the bottom of the drive._
   - _They repaved the drive after years of cracking._
15. An organized campaign to achieve a goal, such as raising money, collecting goods, increasing sales, or promoting a cause.
   - Simple: A planned effort by a group to get something done, like raising money or collecting things.
   - _Volunteers organized a coat drive before the cold season began._
   - _The annual blood drive drew donors from across the county._
21. In American football, an offensive possession made up of several plays that often moves the team toward a scoring opportunity.
   - Simple: In football, the series of plays a team makes while trying to score.
   - _The quarterback led a 90-yard drive to tie the score._
   - _Their opening drive ended in a missed field goal._
23. A hard, powerful shot that sends the ball fast and far, such as a long golf stroke from the tee or a hard, low shot in soccer, tennis or cricket.
   - Simple: A hard, strong hit or kick that sends the ball fast and far.
   - _A booming drive left her just short of the green._
   - _His drive sliced badly and ended up in the trees._
24. Forceful, headlong movement, as in a rush onward or away; especially, the hurried pushing through of business.
   - Simple: Fast, forceful motion, or a rushed push to get business done.
   - _The lawmakers ended the session with a late-night drive to push the budget bill through before the holiday._
   - _The whole office was caught up in the year-end drive to close every open account before the books were shut._
25. A sustained military advance against the enemy aimed at capturing an objective.
   - Simple: A strong, steady attack to push forward and take a target in war.
   - _The general ordered a drive toward the river crossing at dawn._
   - _The spring drive broke through the enemy's defensive line._
18. The act or an instance of urging livestock forward as a group so as to move the herd from one place to another.
   - Simple: Moving a group of farm animals from one place to another by making them go forward together.
   - _Every spring the ranch hires extra riders for the drive up to summer pasture._
   - _Her grandfather still talks about the long cattle drives of his youth._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To be at the controls of an aircraft and fly it.
- (verb) To steer a cart, wagon or carriage pulled by horses or other draft animals.
- (verb) To make animals or people flee from a place by frightening or forcing them.
- (verb) To sort feathers or down by blowing air through them so the lighter pieces are carried apart from the heavier ones.
- (verb) To push someone or something out of its place by force, literally or figuratively.
- (verb) To be pushed along forcefully, most often said of a ship driven by wind or current.
- (verb) To clear a place by forcing out the people, animals or things in it.
- (verb) To dig a level passage or tunnel underground.
- (verb) To move the ball steadily down the field through a series of attacking plays.
- (verb) To seize a tenant's goods or livestock to make up for unpaid rent.
- (verb) To be the one in charge, setting the pace, during sex.
- (noun) A hunt in which game is chased toward waiting hunters or nets.
- (noun) A road or route built or chosen for pleasure driving.
- (noun) A ball hit hard so that it travels low and fairly straight.
- (noun) A stroke made with a straight, swinging bat that sends the ball along the ground in front of the wicket.
- (noun) A shaped hollow pressed into metal by a punch or drift.
- (noun) A mass of things being moved along together, especially logs floated downriver to a mill.
- (noun) A friendly name people call a bus driver when speaking to them.

## Origin

Old English drīfan, meaning "to force, move, drive," became Middle English driven. Its roots go back to Proto-Germanic *drībaną and the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰreybʰ- ("to drive, push"). Dutch drijven and German treiben ("to push, propel, drive") are related verbs.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/drive (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).