- Drive
- Drive Drive (dr[imac]v), v. t. [imp. {Drove} (dr[=o]v),
formerly {Drave} (dr[=a]v); p. p. {Driven} (dr[i^]v'n); p.
pr. & vb. n. {Driving}.] [AS. dr[=i]fan; akin to OS.
dr[=i]ban, D. drijven, OHG. tr[=i]ban, G. treiben, Icel.
dr[=i]fa, 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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
