v. t. [ imp. Drove formerly Drave (drāv); p. p. Driven p. pr. & vb. n. Driving. ] [ AS. drīfan; akin to OS. drīban, D. drijven, OHG. trīban, G. treiben, Icel. drīfa, Goth. dreiban. Cf. Drift, Drove. ] 1. To impel or urge onward by force in a direction away from one, or along before one; to push forward; to compel to move on; to communicate motion to; as, to drive cattle; to drive a nail; smoke drives persons from a room. [ 1913 Webster ]

A storm came on and drove them into Pylos. Jowett (Thucyd. ). [ 1913 Webster ]

Shield pressed on shield, and man drove man along. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Go drive the deer and drag the finny prey. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To urge on and direct the motions of, as the beasts which draw a vehicle, or the vehicle borne by them; hence, also, to take in a carriage; to convey in a vehicle drawn by beasts; as, to drive a pair of horses or a stage; to drive a person to his own door. [ 1913 Webster ]

How . . . proud he was to drive such a brother! Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To urge, impel, or hurry forward; to force; to constrain; to urge, press, or bring to a point or state; as, to drive a person by necessity, by persuasion, by force of circumstances, by argument, and the like. “ Enough to drive one mad.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

He, driven to dismount, threatened, if I did not do the like, to do as much for my horse as fortune had done for his. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To carry or; to keep in motion; to conduct; to prosecute. [ Now used only colloquially. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

The trade of life can not be driven without partners. Collier. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To clear, by forcing away what is contained. [ 1913 Webster ]

To drive the country, force the swains away. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Mining) To dig Horizontally; to cut a horizontal gallery or tunnel. Tomlinson. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To pass away; -- said of time. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Specif., in various games, as tennis, baseball, etc., to propel (the ball) swiftly by a direct stroke or forcible throw. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

9. to operate (a vehicle) while it is on motion, by manipulating the controls, such as the steering, propulsion, and braking mechanisms. [ PJC ]

n. 1. The act of driving; a trip or an excursion in a carriage, as for exercise or pleasure; -- distinguished from a ride taken on horseback. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A place suitable or agreeable for driving; a road prepared for driving. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Violent or rapid motion; a rushing onward or away; esp., a forced or hurried dispatch of business. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Murdstonian drive in business. M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. In type founding and forging, an impression or matrix, formed by a punch drift. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A collection of objects that are driven; a mass of logs to be floated down a river. [ Colloq. ]

Syn. -- See Ride. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. a private road; a driveway. [ PJC ]

7. a strong psychological motivation to perform some activity. [ PJC ]

8. (Computers) a device for reading or writing data from or to a data storage medium, as a disk drive, a tape drive, a CD drive, etc. [ PJC ]

9. an organized effort by a group to accomplish a goal within a limited period of time; as, a fund-raising drive. [ PJC ]

10. a physiological function of an organism motivating it to perform specific behaviors; as, the sex drive. [ PJC ]

11. (Football) the period during which one team sustains movement of the ball toward the opponent's goal without losing possession of the ball; as, a long drive downfield. [ PJC ]

12. an act of driving a vehicle, especially an automobile; the journey undertaken by driving an automobile; as, to go for a drive in the country. [ PJC ]

13. the mechanism which causes the moving parts of a machine to move; as, a belt drive. [ PJC ]

14. the way in which the propulsive force of a vehicle is transmitted to the road; as, a car with four-wheel drive, front-wheel drive, etc. [ PJC ]

p. p. Driven. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To rush and press with violence; to move furiously. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fierce Boreas drove against his flying sails. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Under cover of the night and a driving tempest. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Time driveth onward fast,
And in a little while our lips are dumb. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be forced along; to be impelled; to be moved by any physical force or agent; to be driven. [ 1913 Webster ]

The hull drives on, though mast and sail be torn. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

The chaise drives to Mr. Draper's chambers. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To go by carriage; to pass in a carriage; to proceed by directing or urging on a vehicle or the animals that draw it; as, the coachman drove to my door. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To press forward; to aim, or tend, to a point; to make an effort; to strive; -- usually with at. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let them therefore declare what carnal or secular interest he drove at. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To distrain for rent. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Golf) To make a drive, or stroke from the tee. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

7. to go from one place to another in a vehicle, serving as the operator of the vehicle; to drive{ 9 } a vehicle from one location to another. He drove from New York to Boston in four hours. [ PJC ]

To let drive, to aim a blow; to strike with force; to attack. “Four rogues in buckram let drive at me.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. In various games, as tennis, cricket, etc., the act of player who drives the ball; the stroke or blow; the flight of the ball, etc., so driven. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. (Golf) A stroke from the tee, generally a full shot made with a driver; also, the distance covered by such a stroke. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

☞ Drive, in all its senses, implies forcible or violent action. It is the reverse of to lead. To drive a body is to move it by applying a force behind; to lead is to cause to move by applying the force before, or in front. It takes a variety of meanings, according to the objects by which it is followed; as, to drive an engine, to direct and regulate its motions; to drive logs, to keep them in the current of a river and direct them in their course; to drive feathers or down, to place them in a machine, which, by a current of air, drives off the lightest to one end, and collects them by themselves. “My thrice-driven bed of down.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A drift; a tool for setting bolts home. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. accomplished while driving past in a vehicle; as, a drive-by shooting. [ PJC ]

n. any installation designed to accommodate patrons while staying in their automobiles; especially an outdoor movie theater in which patrons park in their vehicles to watch the movie. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. arranged to allow business to be transacted while patrons remain in their vehicles; as, a drive-in window at a bank.
Syn. -- drive-through. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a window at a business establishment, such as a bank or restaurant, where patrons may transact business or order goods while staying in their automobiles; as, to cash a check at the drive-in window of the bank. [ PJC ]