Meaning of drive In English

• 0 to move or travel on land in a motor vehicle, especially as the person controlling the vehicle's movement:

  • I'm learning to drive.

  • "Are you going by train?" "No, I'm driving."

  • She drives a red sports car.

  • They're driving to Chicago on Tuesday.

  • We saw their car outside the house and drove on/past/away.

  • I drove my daughter to school.

  • Smith was arrested and charged with DWI.

• 1 to force someone or something to go somewhere or do something:

  • They used dogs to drive the sheep into a pen.

  • A post had been driven (= hit hard) into the ground near the tree.

  • By the end of the year, most of the occupying troops had been driven from the city.

  • [ + to infinitive ] In the end, it was his violent behaviour that drove her to leave home.

  • In the course of history, love has driven men and women to strange extremes.

  • Recent events have driven the stock market to lows not seen in ten years.

  • My mother-in-law has been staying with us this past week and she's driving me crazy.

  • He leaves dirty clothes all over the floor and it's driving me mad.

  • When he runs his fingers through my hair, it drives me wild!

• 2 to provide the power to keep a machine working, or to make something happen:

  • The engine drives the wheels.

  • Water drives the turbines that produce electricity.

  • Slater drove the ball down the fairway.

• 3 used in the names of some roads, especially roads containing houses:

  • 12 Maple Drive

  • I parked in/on the drive.

• 4 a planned effort to achieve something:

  • The latest promotional material is all part of a recruitment drive.

  • UK I'm meant to be on an economy drive at the moment, so I'm trying not to spend too much.

• 5 a device for storing computer information:

  • a hard drive

  • a DVD drive

  • a CD drive

• 6 a journey by car:

  • It's a long drive from Auckland to Wellington.

  • Shall we go for a drive this afternoon?

  • a car with left-hand/right-hand drive (= in which the driver sits in the seat on the left/right).

  • a four-wheel drive vehicle

• 7 energy and determination to achieve things:

  • We are looking for someone with drive and ambition.

  • [ + to infinitive ] He has the drive to succeed.

  • Later on in life the sex drive tends to diminish.

• 8 to travel in a motor vehicle, esp. as the person who operates it:

  • [ T ] We drove 40 miles to visit my aunt.

  • [ I ] She drove through Pennsylvania to Ohio.

  • [ I ] She never learned how to drive (= operate a car).

  • [ T ] I’ll drive you to the station (= take you there in my car).

• 9 to force someone or something to go somewhere or do something:

  • He drove a nail into the wall.

  • He was driven (= His actions were caused) by greed.

• 10 to provide the power to make a machine operate:

  • The water pump is driven by a windmill.

• 11 a trip in a motor vehicle:

  • We have a 200-mile drive ahead of us.

  • Riverside Drive

• 12 a planned, usually long-lasting, effort to achieve something:

  • The university sponsored a blood drive (= effort to collect blood) for the Red Cross.

• 13 strong determination to do or achieve something:

  • [ U ] Intelligence isn’t enough – you’ve got to have the drive to succeed.

• 14 to cause or influence something:

  • be driven by sth The country needs to shift from export-led growth to growth driven by domestic demand.

  • This company is driven by customers and by the markets in which we do our business.

• 15 to cause something to progress, develop, or grow stronger:

  • The firm said it would drive sales by switching into larger premises while closing smaller stores.

  • The company yesterday reported record iron ore production for the year to June, driven by a construction and manufacturing boom in China.

• 16 to force something to happen or someone to do something:

  • drive sb/sth into/out of/to sth Analysts say these policies will drive the economy into recession.

  • The prospect of a consumer boom helped drive the stock market to new peaks yesterday.

• 17 to be in control of a situation:

  • With employers fighting among themselves for staff, IT workers are in the driving seat.

  • He believes there will be consolidation in the airline industry and wants his company to be in the driver's seat of any merger.

• 18 to expect a lot in exchange for what you pay or agree to:

  • The unions are driving a hard bargain on pay.

• 19 an effort to achieve something:

  • drive for sth The supermarket continues in its relentless drive for expansion.

  • drive to do sth They are expanding their telephone banking service for small businesses in a key part of their drive to cut costs and boost efficiency.

  • a recruitment/marketing/cost-cutting drive

• 20 a piece of equipment for reading and storing computer information:

  • a CD-ROM/DVD drive

• 21 energy and determination to achieve things:

  • We're looking for someone with drive and ambition to fill this important post.

  • drive to do sth She has the drive to succeed.