(~s, driving, drove, ~n)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
When you ~ somewhere, you operate a car or other vehicle and control its movement and direction.
I drove into town and went to a restaurant for dinner...
She never learned to ~...
Mrs Glick drove her own car and the girls went in Nancy’s convertible.
VERB: V prep/adv, V, V n
driving
...a qualified driving instructor...
N-UNCOUNT
2.
If you ~ someone somewhere, you take them there in a car or other vehicle.
His daughter Carly drove him to the train station.
VERB: V n prep/adv
3.
A ~ is a journey in a car or other vehicle.
I thought we might go for a ~ on Sunday.
N-COUNT
4.
A ~ is a wide piece of hard ground, or sometimes a private road, that leads from the road to a person’s house.
= ~way
N-COUNT
5.
If something ~s a machine, it supplies the power that makes it work.
The current flows into electric motors that ~ the wheels.
VERB: V n
6.
You use ~ to refer to the mechanical part of a computer which reads the data on disks and tapes, or writes data onto them.
...equipment such as terminals, tape ~s or printers.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
see also disk ~
7.
If you ~ something such as a nail into something else, you push it in or hammer it in using a lot of effort.
I used a sledgehammer to ~ the pegs into the ground...
I held it still and drove in a nail.
VERB: V n prep, V n with adv
8.
In games such as cricket, golf, or football, if a player ~s a ball somewhere, they kick or hit it there with a lot of force.
Armstrong drove the ball into the roof of the net.
VERB: V n prep/adv, also V n
9.
If the wind, rain, or snow ~s in a particular direction, it moves with great force in that direction.
Rain drove against the window.
VERB: V prep/adv
driving
He crashed into a tree in driving rain.
ADJ: ADJ n
10.
If you ~ people or animals somewhere, you make them go to or from that place.
The last offensive drove thousands of people into Thailand...
The smoke also drove mosquitoes away.
VERB: V n prep, V n with adv
11.
To ~ someone into a particular state or situation means to force them into that state or situation.
The recession and hospital bills drove them into bankruptcy...
He nearly drove Elsie mad with his fussing.
VERB: V n into/to n, V n adj
12.
The desire or feeling that ~s a person to do something, especially something extreme, is the desire or feeling that causes them to do it.
More than once, depression drove him to attempt suicide...
Jealousy ~s people to murder...
...people who are ~n by guilt, resentment and anxiety.
...a man ~n by a pathological need to win.
VERB: V n to-inf, V n to n, be V-ed, V-ed
13.
If you say that someone has ~, you mean they have energy and determination.
John will be best remembered for his ~ and enthusiasm.
N-UNCOUNT
14.
A ~ is a very strong need or desire in human beings that makes them act in particular ways.
...compelling, dynamic sex ~s.
N-COUNT
15.
A ~ is a special effort made by a group of people for a particular purpose.
The ANC is about to launch a nationwide recruitment ~...
= campaign
N-SING: with supp
16.
Drive is used in the names of some streets.
...23 Queen’s Drive, Malvern, Worcestershire.
N-IN-NAMES
17.
see also driving
18.
If you ask someone what they are driving at, you are asking what they are trying to say or what they are saying indirectly.
It was clear Cohen didn’t understand what Millard was driving at.
PHRASE: V inflects
19.
to ~ a hard bargain: see bargain