drive
drive (drīv) verb
drove (drōv), driven (drĭvʹən), driving, drives
verb, transitive
1. To push, propel, or press onward forcibly; urge forward: drove the horses into the corral.
2. To repulse forcefully; put to flight: drove the attackers away; drove out any thought of failure.
3. To guide, control, or direct (a vehicle).
4. a. To convey or transport in a vehicle: drove the children to school. b. To traverse in a vehicle: drive the freeways to work.
5. To supply the motive force or power to and cause to function: Steam drives the engine.
6. To compel or force to work, often excessively: "Every serious dancer is driven by notions of perfectionperfect 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.
11. a. Sports. To throw, strike, or cast (a ball, for example) hard or rapidly. b. Basketball. To move with the ball directly through: drove the lane and scored. c. Baseball. To cause (a run) to be scored.
12. a. To chase (game) into the open or into traps or nets. b. To search (an area) for game in such a manner.
verb, intransitive
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.
5. a. Sports. To hit, throw, or impel a ball or other missile forcibly. b. Basketball. To move directly to the basket with the ball.
6. To make an effort to reach or achieve an objective; aim.
noun
1. The act of driving.
2. A trip or journey in a vehicle.
3. Abbr. Dr. A road for automobiles and other vehicles.
4. a. The means or apparatus for transmitting motion or power to a machine or from one machine part to another. b. The means by which automotive power is applied to a roadway: four-wheel drive. c. The means or apparatus for controlling and directing an automobile: right-hand drive.
5. Computer Science. A device that reads data from and 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, especially of sexual or aggressive origin, that prompts activity toward a particular end.
9. A massive, sustained military offensive.
10. a. Sports. The act of hitting, knocking, or thrusting a ball very swiftly. b. Sports. The stroke or thrust by which a ball is driven. c. Basketball. The act of moving with the ball directly to the basket.
11. a. A rounding up and driving of cattle to new pastures or to market. b. A gathering and driving of logs down a river. c. The cattle or logs thus driven.
phrasal verb.
drive at
To mean to do or say: I don't understand what you're driving at.
[Middle English driven, from Old English drīfan.]
drivabilʹity noun
drivʹable adjective