Definition of: drive

(drīv) v. drove, driv·en, driv·ing v.t.
1. To push or propel onward with force; urge or press forward; impel.
2. To force to act or work; urge on by or as by coercion: He drives his workers too hard.
3. To bring to a state or condition as if by coercion: Failure drove him to despair.
4. To cause to penetrate or pass through: often with in: to drive in a nail.
5. To form by penetrating or passing through: to drive a well.
6. To control the movements or direction of: to drive an automobile.
7. To transport in a vehicle.
8. To carry on or complete (trade, a bargain, etc.) with energy.
9. In sports, to strike and propel (a ball) with force.
10. Mech. To provide power for: The wind drives the generator.
11. In hunting, a To chase (game) from cover or into traps, nets, etc. b To search (an area) in such a manner.
12. Mining To excavate (a tunnel) horizontally.
—v.i.
13. To move forward or onward rapidly or with force: The ship drove before the wind.
14. To operate or travel in a vehicle: We all drove together into town.
15. To have an object or intention: with at: What are you driving at?
16. To aim a blow: with at.
—to drive home
1. To force in all the way, as a nail.
2. To make clear or evident; complete.
—to let drive at To aim or discharge a shot, blow, missile, etc.
—noun
1. The act of driving.
2. A road for driving; also, an approach for vehicles to a private house or other building.
3. A journey or excursion in an automobile or other vehicle.
4. Urgent pressure, as of business.
5. A hunt by driving; a drove or drift, as of cattle; a round–up; also, any objects driven, collectively.
6. A special sale at reduced price.
7. Mil. An advance of troops in mass against an enemy so as to break through defenses and drive back the defenders.
8. In golf, a stroke from the tee made with a wooden club; the distance traveled by the ball.
9. In certain games, as baseball, cricket, croquet, etc., the act of driving the ball, or the stroke by which the ball is driven; also, the flight of the ball.
10. Mining A driven tunnel.
11. Mech. A driving gear; a means of transmitting power, as from the motor of an automobile to the wheels.
12. Energy; vitality; also, aggressiveness.
13. Logs felled in the winter to be floated downstream in the spring.
14. The mass of logs floating down a river or stream.
15. An organized money–raising campaign: a Red Cross drive. See synonyms under WAY. [OE drīfan] Synonyms (verb): compel, impel, propel, push, repel, repulse, resist, ride, thrust. To drive is to move an object with some force or violence before or away from oneself; it is the direct reverse of draw, lead, etc. A man leads a horse by the halter, drives him with whip and rein. One may be driven to a thing or from it; hence, drive is a synonym equally for compel or for repel or repulse. Repulse is stronger and more conclusive than repel; one may be repelled by the very aspect of the person whose favor he seeks, but is not repulsed except by the direct refusal or ignoring of his suit. It is common to speak of driving in a car, riding upon a horse; though many good authorities use ride in the older and broader sense as signifying to be supported and borne along by any means of conveyance. Compare ACTUATE, BANISH, COMPEL, INFLUENCE, PUSH. Antonyms: see synonyms for DRAW.