drove

Formsdroves, droving, droved

Pluraldroves

1. 1
   verb

   Past tense of drive. Use it for the past.

   She drove to the store this morning.

   We drove all night to reach the coast.

   Note
2. 2
   nounfigurativelycountable

   A big crowd of people moving together from place to place.

   Like a big wave of people all moving the same way.

   A drove of fans poured out of the stadium after the game.

   Shoppers came in droves when the sale started.

   Similarcrowd, horde, throng, swarm, flock

   Note
3. 3
   nouncountable

   A group of cattle being moved together, often to market or new land.

   Like a big group of animals all walking the same way together.

   The rancher guided his drove across the open plain.

   Cowboys watered the drove at the river before nightfall.

   Similarherd

   Note
4. 4
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To move a herd of cattle from one place to another, often far away.

   Men once traveled for weeks to drove their cattle to far-off towns.

   Each spring they droved the cattle up into the hills.

   Similardrive

   Note
5. 5
   verbdialectal

   Past participle of drive. In some dialects, used after has, have, or had in place of 'driven'.

   He had drove the truck all the way home before the rain came.

   They had drove the sheep up the hill by noon.

   Note
6. 6
   nouncountable

   A road or path used for moving cattle from place to place.

   Like a special road just for moving farm animals.

   The old drove still runs between the two villages.

   Sheep once followed this drove down to the valley.

   Similartrack, trail

   Note
7. 7
   nouncollectivecountable

   A group of hares seen together in one place.

   Like a flock of birds, but for hares.

   A drove of hares scattered across the field.

   We saw a drove of hares near the woods at dusk.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   A wide chisel used to smooth the surface of stone.

   Like a wide tool that scrapes stone smooth, the way a blade smooths wood.

   The mason used a drove to smooth the block of stone.

   She tapped the drove gently along the rough edge.

   Note
9. 9
   nouncountable

   A small ditch or channel that carries water across farmland.

   Like a tiny river dug by people to bring water to crops.

   Water ran along the drove into the dry field.

   Farmers cleared the drove before the spring floods.

   Similarchannel, ditch, drain

10. 10
    noununcountable

    The lined, grooved surface left on stone after smoothing it with a wide chisel.

    Like the lines a comb leaves in wet sand.

    The drove on the old wall had worn smooth over time.

    You can still see the fine drove across the stone face.

11. 11
    verbtransitive

    To smooth the surface of stone using a wide chisel.

    The mason will drove the block before it is set in place.

    Apprentices learn to drove the stone evenly.

    Similardress

    Note

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