drive

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See also: Drive, drivé, and dříve

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms[edit]

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

Etymology[edit]

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”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- (“support, hold”).

Cognates
Cognate with Scots drive (“to drive”), North Frisian driwe (“to drive”), Saterland Frisian drieuwe (“to drive”), West Frisian driuwe (“to chase, drive, impel”), Dutch drijven (“to drive”), Low German drieven (“to drive, drift, push”), German treiben (“to drive, push, propel”), Norwegian Bokmål drive, Danish drive (“to drive, run, force”), Norwegian Nynorsk driva, Swedish driva (“to drive, power, drift, push, force”), Icelandic drífa (“to drive, hurry, rush”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • enPR: drīv, IPA(key): /dɹaɪv/, [d͡ʒɹaɪv], [d̠ɹ̠ ̝ʷaɪv]
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (UK)(file)
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪv

Noun[edit]

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
    • 1986, Fred Matheny, Solo Cycling: How to Train and Race Bicycle Time Trials, page 136:
      I confess that the sight of my minute man ahead, getting closer and closer, gives me a little more drive even when I think I am going as fast as I can.
    Crassus had wealth and wit, but Pompey had drive and Caesar as much again.
  3. Violent or rapid motion; a rushing onward or away; especially, a forced or hurried dispatch of business.
    • 1881, Matthew Arnold, The Incompatibles:
      The Murdstonian drive in business.
  4. An act of driving (prompting) game animals forward, to be captured or hunted.
    • 1955, Robin Jenkins, The Cone-Gatherers, Canongate, published 2012, page 79:
      Are you all ready?’ he cried, and set off towards the dead ash where the drive would begin.
  5. An act of driving (prompting) livestock animals forward, to transport a herd.
    Synonyms: drove, drift
  6. (military) A sustained advance in the face of the enemy to take a strategic objective.
    Synonyms: attack, push
    Napoleon's drive on Moscow was as determined as it was disastrous.
    • 1941 August, Charles E. Lee, “Railways of Italian East Africa—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 340:
      On the other hand, in Eritrea (once our Forces had recaptured Kassala on January 19) the drive was generally eastward towards the capital, Asmara, and the Red Sea port of Massaua.
  7. A mechanism used to power or give motion to a vehicle or other machine or machine part.
    Synonyms: gear, engine, [Term?], motor
    a typical steam drive
    a nuclear drive
    chain drive
    front-wheel drive
    Some old model trains have clockwork drives.
    • 2001, Michael Hereward Westbrook, The Electric Car, IET, →ISBN, page 146:
      Heat engine-electric hybrid vehicles : The hybrid vehicle on which most development work has been done to date is the one that couples a heat engine with an electric drive system. The objective remains the same as it was in 1900:
  8. A trip made in a vehicle (now generally in a motor vehicle).
    Synonyms: ride, spin, trip
    It was a long drive.
    • 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White‎[1]:
      We merely waited to rouse good Mrs. Vesey from the place which she still occupied at the deserted luncheon-table, before we entered the open carriage for our promised drive.
  9. A driveway.
    Synonyms: approach, driveway
    The mansion had a long, tree-lined drive.
  10. A type of public roadway.
    Synonyms: avenue, boulevard, road, street
    Beverly Hills’ most famous street is Rodeo Drive.
  11. (dated) A place suitable or agreeable for driving; a road prepared for driving.
  12. (psychology) Desire or interest.
    Synonyms: desire, impetus, impulse, urge
    • 1995 March 2, John Carman, "Believe It, You Saw It in Sweeps", SFGate [2]
      On the latter show, former Playboy Playmate Carrie Westcott said she'd never met a man who could match her sexual drive.
  13. (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
  14. (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
  15. (golf) A stroke made with a driver.
  17. (baseball, tennis) A ball struck in a flat trajectory.
  18. (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.
  19. (soccer) A straight level shot or pass.
    • 2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2-2 Arsenal”, in BBC:
      And after Rodallega missed two early opportunities, the first a header, the second a low drive easily held by Lukasz Fabianski, it was N'Zogbia who created the opening goal.
  20. (American football) An offensive possession, generally one consisting of several plays and/ or first downs, often leading to a scoring opportunity.
  21. A charity event such as a fundraiser, bake sale, or toy drive.
    a whist drive
    a beetle drive
  22. (retail) A campaign aimed at selling more of a certain product, e.g. by offering a discount.
    vaccination drive
  23. (typography) An impression or matrix formed by a punch drift.
  24. A collection of objects that are driven; a mass of logs to be floated down a river.

Usage notes[edit]

  • 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[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

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. (transitive) To provide an impetus for motion or other physical change, to move an object by means of the provision of force thereto.
    You drive nails into wood with a hammer.
  2. (transitive) To provide an impetus for a non-physical change, especially a change in one's state of mind.
    My husband's constant harping about the condition of the house threatens to drive me to distraction.
  3. To displace either physically or non-physically, through the application of force.
  4. To cause intrinsic motivation through the application or demonstration of force: to impel or urge onward thusly, to compel to move on, to coerce, intimidate or threaten.
    • 1881, “Thucydides”, in Benjamin Jowett, transl., History of the Peloponnesian War‎[3], Oxford: Clarendon, Volume I, Book 4, p. 247:
      […] Demosthenes desired them first to put in at Pylos and not to proceed on their voyage until they had done what he wanted. They objected, but it so happened that a storm came on and drove them into Pylos.
  6. (transitive) (especially of animals) To impel or urge onward by force; to push forward; to compel to move on.
    to drive twenty thousand head of cattle from Texas to the Kansas railheads; to drive sheep out of a field
  7. (transitive, intransitive) To direct a vehicle powered by a horse, ox or similar animal.
  9. (transitive) To cause animals to flee out of.
    Synonyms: flush, flush out, scare up
    The hunting dog drove the birds out of the tall grass.
  10. (transitive) To move (something) by hitting it with great force.
    You drive nails into wood with a hammer.
  11. (transitive) To cause (a mechanism) to operate.
    The pistons drive the crankshaft.
  12. (transitive, ergative) To operate (a wheeled motorized vehicle).
    drive a car
    This SUV drives like a car.
  13. (transitive, slang, aviation) To operate (an aircraft).
    drive a 737
  14. (transitive) To motivate; to provide an incentive for.
    What drives a person to run a marathon?
  15. (transitive) To compel (to do something).
    Their debts finally drove them to sell the business.
  16. (transitive) To cause to become.
    This constant complaining is going to drive me to insanity.   You are driving me crazy!
  18. (intransitive, cricket, tennis, baseball) To hit the ball with a drive.
  19. (intransitive) To travel by operating a wheeled motorized vehicle.
    I drive to work every day.
  20. (transitive) To convey (a person, etc.) in a wheeled motorized vehicle.
    My cousin drove me to the airport.
  21. (intransitive) To move forcefully.
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
      […] Unequal match’d,
      Pyrrhus at Priam drives, in rage strikes wide;
    • 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, lines 146-148:
      Thus while the Pious Prince his Fate bewails,
      Fierce Boreas drove against his flying Sails.
      And rent the Sheets […]
    • 1833, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Lotos-Eaters”, in Poems‎[5], London: Edward Moxon, page 113:
      Time driveth onward fast,
      And in a little while our lips are dumb.
    • 1855, William H[ickling] Prescott, chapter 1, in History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, book I, page 7:
      Charles, ill in body and mind, and glad to escape from his enemies under cover of the night and a driving tempest, was at length compelled to sign the treaty of Passau […]
    • 1898, H.G. Wells, “The "Thunder Child."”, in The War of the Worlds‎[6], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, retrieved 24 November 2022, page 175:
      It would seem they were regarding this new antagonist with astonishment. To their intelligence, it may be, the giant was even such another as themselves. The Thunder Child fired no gun, but simply drove full speed towards them. It was probably her not firing that enabled her to get so near the enemy as she did. They did not know what to make of her. One shell, and they would have sent her to the bottom forthwith with the Heat-Ray.
    • 2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2-2 Arsenal”, in BBC:
      The impressive Frenchman drove forward with purpose down the right before cutting infield and darting in between Vassiriki Diaby and Koscielny.
  22. (intransitive) To be moved or propelled forcefully (especially of a ship).
  23. (transitive) To urge, press, or bring to a point or state.
    • c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The Second Booke] Chapter 19”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, →OCLC, page 186:
      He driuen to dismount, threatned, if I did not the like, to doo as much for my horse, as Fortune had done for his.
    • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:
      But darkness and the gloomy shade of death
      Environ you, till mischief and despair
      Drive you to break your necks or hang yourselves!
    • 2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:
      And now we're waiting for the very same people to establish GBR, drive through urgently needed fares reform, and come up with imaginative and effective train operating contracts...
  24. (transitive) To carry or to keep in motion; to conduct; to prosecute.
    • 1694, Jeremy Collier, “Of General Kindness”, in Miscellanies in Five Essays‎[8], London: Sam. Keeble & Jo. Hindmarsh, page 69:
      You know the Trade of Life can’t be driven without Partners; there is a reciprocal Dependance between the Greatest and the Least.
  25. (transitive) To clear, by forcing away what is contained.
    • 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, lines 744-745:
      We come not with design of wastful Prey,
      To drive the Country, force the Swains away:
  26. (mining) To dig horizontally; to cut a horizontal gallery or 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
  27. (American football) To put together a drive (n.): to string together offensive plays and advance the ball down the field.
  28. (obsolete) To distrain for rent.
  29. (transitive) To separate the lighter (feathers or down) from the heavier, by exposing them to a current of air.
  30. To be the dominant party in a sex act. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms[edit]

Hyponyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • → Scottish Gaelic: draibh

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Anagrams[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

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[edit]
Inflection of drive
present past
simple driver drev
perfect har or er drevet havde or var drevet
passive drives (archaic) dreves
participle drivende drevet
imperative driv —
infinitive drive —
auxiliary verb have or være —
gerund driven —
Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse drífa f, derived from the verb.

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

drive c (singular definite driven, plural indefinite driver)

  1. drift (a pile of snow)
Declension[edit]
Declension of drive
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative drive driven driver driverne
genitive drives drivens drivers drivernes
Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From English drive.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /drajv/, [ˈd̥ɹɑjʋ]

Noun[edit]

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

  1. (psychology) drive (desire or interest, self-motivation)
Declension[edit]
Declension of drive
common
gender 		Singular
indefinite definite
nominative drive driven
genitive drives drivens

Noun[edit]

drive n (singular definite drivet, plural indefinite drives)

  1. (golf) drive (stroke made with a driver)
Declension[edit]
Declension of drive
neuter
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative drive drivet drives drivene
genitive drives drivets drives' drivenes

References[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

drive

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

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Verb[edit]

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

  1. Alternative form of driva

Derived terms[edit]

Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from English drive.

Pronunciation[edit]

 
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈdɾaj.vi/ [ˈdɾaɪ̯.vi], /ˈdɾajv/ [ˈdɾaɪ̯v]
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈdɾaj.ve/ [ˈdɾaɪ̯.ve], /ˈdɾajv/ [ˈdɾaɪ̯v]

Noun[edit]

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

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

Scots[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Derived from the verb, from Old English drīfan.

Noun[edit]

drive (plural drives)

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

Verb[edit]

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

  1. to drive

Yola[edit]

Verb[edit]

drive

  1. Alternative form of dhreeve
    • 1867, DR. RUSSELL ON THE INHABITANTS AND DIALECT OF THE BARONY OF FORTH, page 132:
      Tommeen was eepit t' drive in
      [Tommy was put to drive in]

References[edit]

  • 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
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