# driver

Pronunciation: US say "DRY-vur" /ˈdɹaɪvɚ/; UK say "DRY-vuh" /ˈdɹaɪ.və/

## Noun

1. Someone who operates a powered vehicle, such as a car, bus, truck, train, or forklift.
   - Simple: A person who operates a powered vehicle, such as a car, bus, truck, train, or forklift.
   - _The truck driver logged his hours before starting the long haul north._
   - _Forklift drivers must be certified before working in the warehouse._
2. A factor that contributes to something or helps bring it about; a cause.
   - Simple: A thing that helps cause something else to happen or grow.
   - _Rising energy costs have been a key driver of inflation this year._
   - _For many small towns, tourism has become the main driver of the local economy._
3. A program that lets a computer's operating system communicate with and control a particular hardware device or type of device.
   - Simple: A small program that lets your computer talk to a piece of hardware, like a printer.
   - _Windows automatically downloaded the correct driver for the scanner._
   - _Outdated drivers can cause the device to crash unexpectedly._
4. A person who drives something along, such as animals, a cart, or a project, by steering, urging, or pushing it.
   - Simple: A person who guides or pushes something along.
   - _He was the driver behind the company's expansion into new markets._
   - _The sled's driver shouted commands to the dogs as they raced across the frozen lake._
5. A golf club designed to hit the ball over a great distance.
   - Simple: A golf club made to hit the ball a very long way.
   - _A new titanium driver added twenty yards to his tee shots._
   - _Most amateurs struggle to control their drivers off the tee._
6. The chief sound-producing component in a loudspeaker or headphones, converting electrical input into sound.
   - Simple: The part of a speaker or headphone that turns electric signals into sound.
   - _The studio monitor pairs a large bass driver with a small tweeter._
   - _High-end headphones often combine several drivers per side._
7. Anything that powers or moves something else, especially the part of a mechanism that sets another part in motion.
   - Simple: Anything that makes another thing move or work, like a machine part that turns another part.
   - _In this mechanism, the rotating cam serves as the driver for the lever._
   - _In a gear train, the driver turns the next gear, which passes the motion along to the rest of the mechanism._
8. A screwdriver, a nutdriver, or a bit for turning screws or nuts, a category that includes nutsetters.
   - Simple: A tool or bit used to turn screws or nuts.
   - _The kit came with a magnetic driver and a set of bits._
   - _Mechanics keep several drivers within reach for different fasteners._
9. A person at the controls of an aircraft; a pilot. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who flies a plane or other aircraft.
   - _The squadron's best driver could land a jet in almost any weather._
   - _After twenty years as a Navy fighter driver, he found that flying a desk was far less exciting._
10. A person who drives livestock from one place to another; a drover.
   - Simple: A person who moves cattle or other animals from place to place.
   - _In the 1870s, a cattle driver might spend months on the trail, moving a herd north to the railroad._
   - _Cattle drivers spent weeks moving the herd to market._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A driving wheel of a locomotive, one of the powered wheels that move the engine.
- (noun) A hammer or mallet used to drive something in or into place, such as a cooper's tool for hoops.
- (noun) On a square-rigged ship, the fore-and-aft sail set from a gaff on the aftmost mast; a spanker.
- (noun) A tamping iron; a bar used to pack down material such as gravel or a blasting charge.
- (noun) A cooper's hammer used for driving hoops onto a barrel.

## Origin

From Middle English drivere (also spelled dryvere or dryvare), equivalent to drive plus the suffix -er. It is related to Dutch drijver, German Treiber, and Swedish drivare, all meaning "driver".

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