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drive - 6 dictionary results

drive

  [drahyv] verb, drove or (Archaic) drave, driv⋅en, driv⋅ing, noun, adjective
Use drive in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to send, expel, or otherwise cause to move by force or compulsion: to drive away the flies; to drive back an attacking army; to drive a person to desperation.
2. to cause and guide the movement of (a vehicle, an animal, etc.): to drive a car; to drive a mule.
3. to convey in a vehicle: She drove them to the station.
4. to force to work or act: He drove the workers until they collapsed.
5. to impel; constrain; urge; compel.
6. to carry (business, an agreement, etc.) vigorously through: He drove a hard bargain.
7. to keep (machinery) going.
8. Baseball.
a. to cause the advance of (a base runner) by a base hit or sacrifice fly: He drove him home with a scratch single.
b. to cause (a run) to be scored by a base hit or sacrifice fly: He drove in two runs.
9. Golf. to hit (a golf ball), esp. from the tee, as with a driver or driving iron: She drove the ball within ten feet of the pin.
10. Sports.
a. to hit or propel (a ball, puck, shuttlecock, etc.) very hard.
b. to kick (a ball) with much force.
11. Hunting.
a. to chase (game).
b. to search (a district) for game.
12. to float (logs) down a river or stream.
13. (in mining, construction, etc.) to excavate (a mine or tunnel heading).
–verb (used without object)
14. to cause and guide the movement of a vehicle or animal, esp. to operate an automobile.
15. to go or travel in a driven vehicle: He drives to work with me.
16. Golf. to hit a golf ball, esp. from the tee, as with a driver or driving iron: He drove long and straight throughout the match.
17. to strive vigorously toward a goal or objective; to work, play, or try wholeheartedly and with determination.
18. to go along before an impelling force; be impelled: The ship drove before the wind.
19. to rush or dash violently.
–noun
20. the act of driving.
21. a trip in a vehicle, esp. a short pleasure trip: a Sunday drive in the country.
22. an impelling along, as of game, cattle, or floating logs, in a particular direction.
23. the animals, logs, etc., thus driven.
24. Psychology. an inner urge that stimulates activity or inhibition; a basic or instinctive need: the hunger drive; sex drive.
25. a vigorous onset or onward course toward a goal or objective: the drive toward the goal line.
26. a strong military offensive.
27. a united effort to accomplish some specific purpose, esp. to raise money, as for a charity.
28. energy and initiative: a person with great drive.
29. vigorous pressure or effort, as in business.
30. a road for vehicles, esp. a scenic one, as in or along a park, or a short one, as an approach to a house.
31. Machinery. a driving mechanism, as of an automobile: gear drive; chain drive.
32. Automotive. the point or points of power application to the roadway: front-wheel drive; four-wheel drive.
33. Sports.
a. an act or instance of driving a ball, puck, shuttlecock, or the like.
b. the flight of such a ball, puck, shuttlecock, or the like, that has been driven with much force.
34. Golf. a shot, esp. with a driver or driving iron from the tee, that is intended to carry a great distance.
35. a hunt in which game is driven toward stationary hunters.
36. Electronics. excitation (def. 5).
–adjective
37. noting or pertaining to a part of a machine or vehicle used for its propulsion.
—Verb phrase
38. drive at, to attempt or intend to convey; allude to; suggest: What are you driving at?
—Idiom
39. let drive, to aim a blow or missile at; attack: He let drive at his pursuers.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME drīven, OE drīfan; c. D drijven, ON drīfa, Goth dreiban, G treiben

Related forms:
driv⋅a⋅ble, drive⋅a⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
1. push, force. 2, 15. Drive, ride are used interchangeably to mean traveling in an automobile or, formerly, in a horse-drawn vehicle. These two words are not synonyms in other connections. To drive is to maneuver, guide, or steer the progress of a vehicle, animal, etc.: to drive a bus, a horse. To ride is to be carried about by an animal or be carried as a passenger in a vehicle: to ride a horse, a train, a bus. 28. push; ambition, motivation.

ex⋅ci⋅ta⋅tion

  [ek-sahy-tey-shuhn, -si-]
–noun
1. the act of exciting.
2. the state of being excited.
3. Electricity.
a. the application of voltage to an electric device, as an electron-tube circuit, an antenna, or a dynamotor, often for producing a magnetic field in the device.
b. the voltage applied.
4. Physics. a process in which a molecule, atom, nucleus, or particle is excited.
5. Also called drive. Electronics. the varying voltage applied to the control electrode of a vacuum tube.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME excitacioun < LL excitātiōn- (s. of excitātiō), equiv. to L excitāt(us) (ptp. of excitāre; see excite ) + -iōn- -ion
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To drive
drive   (drīv)   
v.   drove (drōv), driv·en (drĭv'ən), driv·ing, drives

v.   tr.
  1. To push, propel, or press onward forcibly; urge forward: drove the horses into the corral.
  2. To repulse or put to flight by force or influence: drove the attackers away; drove out any thought of failure.
  3. To guide, control, or direct (a vehicle).
    1. To convey or transport in a vehicle: drove the children to school.
    2. To traverse in a vehicle: drive the freeways to work.
    3. To supply the motive force or power to and cause to function: Steam drives the engine.
    4. To cause or sustain, as if by supplying force or power: "The current merger mania is apparently driven by an urge . . . to reduce risk or to exploit opportunities in a very rapidly changing business environment" (Peter Passell).
    5. Sports To throw, strike, or cast (a ball, for example) hard or rapidly.
    6. Basketball To move with the ball directly through: drove the lane and scored.
    7. Baseball To cause (a run or runner) to be scored by batting. Often used with in.
    8. To chase (game) into the open or into traps or nets.
    9. To search (an area) for game in such a manner.
    1. To supply the motive force or power to and cause to function: Steam drives the engine.
    2. To cause or sustain, as if by supplying force or power: "The current merger mania is apparently driven by an urge . . . to reduce risk or to exploit opportunities in a very rapidly changing business environment" (Peter Passell).
    3. Sports To throw, strike, or cast (a ball, for example) hard or rapidly.
    4. Basketball To move with the ball directly through: drove the lane and scored.
    5. Baseball To cause (a run or runner) to be scored by batting. Often used with in.
    6. To chase (game) into the open or into traps or nets.
    7. To search (an area) for game in such a manner.
  6. To compel or force to work, often excessively: "Every serious dancer is driven by notions of perfection—perfect expressiveness, perfect technique" (Susan Sontag).
  7. To force into or from a particular act or state: Indecision drives me crazy.
  8. To force to go through or penetrate: drove the stake into the ground.
  9. To create or produce by penetrating forcibly: The nail drove a hole in the tire.
  10. To carry through vigorously to a conclusion: drove home his point; drive a hard bargain.
    1. Sports To throw, strike, or cast (a ball, for example) hard or rapidly.
    2. Basketball To move with the ball directly through: drove the lane and scored.
    3. Baseball To cause (a run or runner) to be scored by batting. Often used with in.
    4. To chase (game) into the open or into traps or nets.
    5. To search (an area) for game in such a manner.
    1. To chase (game) into the open or into traps or nets.
    2. To search (an area) for game in such a manner.
v.   intr.
  1. To move along or advance quickly as if pushed by an impelling force.
  2. To rush, dash, or advance violently against an obstruction: The wind drove into my face.
  3. To operate a vehicle, such as a car.
  4. To go or be transported in a vehicle: drove to the supermarket.
    1. Sports To hit, throw, or impel a ball or other missile forcibly.
    2. Basketball To move directly to the basket with the ball.
  6. To make an effort to reach or achieve an objective; aim.
n.  
  1. The act of driving.
  2. A trip or journey in a vehicle.
  3. Abbr. Dr. A road for automobiles and other vehicles.
    1. The means or apparatus for transmitting motion or power to a machine or from one machine part to another.
    2. The position or operating condition of such a mechanism: "He put his car into drive and started home" (Charles Baxter).
    3. The means by which automotive power is applied to a roadway: four-wheel drive.
    4. The means or apparatus for controlling and directing an automobile: right-hand drive.
    5. Sports The act of hitting, knocking, or thrusting a ball very swiftly.
    6. Sports The stroke or thrust by which a ball is driven.
    7. Basketball The act of moving with the ball directly to the basket.
    8. A rounding up and driving of cattle to new pastures or to market.
    9. A gathering and driving of logs down a river.
    10. The cattle or logs thus driven.
  5. Computer Science A device that reads data from and often writes data onto a storage medium, such as a floppy disk.
  6. A strong organized effort to accomplish a purpose. See Synonyms at campaign.
  7. Energy, push, or aggressiveness.
  8. Psychology A strong motivating tendency or instinct related to self-preservation, reproduction, or aggression that prompts activity toward a particular end.
  9. A massive, sustained military offensive.
    1. Sports The act of hitting, knocking, or thrusting a ball very swiftly.
    2. Sports The stroke or thrust by which a ball is driven.
    3. Basketball The act of moving with the ball directly to the basket.
    4. A rounding up and driving of cattle to new pastures or to market.
    5. A gathering and driving of logs down a river.
    6. The cattle or logs thus driven.
    1. A rounding up and driving of cattle to new pastures or to market.
    2. A gathering and driving of logs down a river.
    3. The cattle or logs thus driven.
Phrasal Verb(s):
drive atTo mean to do or say: I don't understand what you're driving at.

[Middle English driven, from Old English drīfan; see dhreibh- in Indo-European roots.]
driv'a·bil'i·ty n., driv'a·ble adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

drive  (v.)
O.E. drifan (class I strong verb; past tense draf, pp. drifen), from P.Gmc. *dribanan (cf. O.N. drifa, Goth. dreiban), not found outside Gmc. Original sense of "pushing from behind," altered in Mod.Eng. by application to automobiles. Golfing sense of "forcible blow" is from 1836. Meaning "organized effort to raise money" is 1889, Amer.Eng. The noun, in the computing sense, first attested 1963. Drive-in (adj.) first recorded 1930, of restaurants, banks, movies, etc. Drive-through first attested 1949, in an advertisement for the Beer Vault Drive-Thru in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Driveway is from 1875.
"The more you drive, the less intelligent you are." ["Repo Man"]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Language Translation for : drive
Spanish: conducir,
German: fahren,
Japanese: 運転する
More Translations »

Main Entry: drive
Pronunciation: 'drIv
Function: noun
1 : an urgent, basic, or instinctual need : a motivating physiological condition ofthe organism drive>
2 : an impelling culturally acquired concern, interest, or longing drive for perfection>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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drive (drīv)
n.
A strong motivating tendency or instinct, especially of sexual or aggressive origin, that prompts activity toward a particular end.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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