GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 4 definitions

  1.       
    Drive (drīv), v. t. [imp. Drove (drōv), formerly Drave (drāv); p. p. Driven (drĭv'n); 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.”

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    A storm came on and drove them into Pylos. Jowett (Thucyd. ).

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    Shield pressed on shield, and man drove man along. Pope.

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    Go drive the deer and drag the finny prey. Pope.

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    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.”

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    How . . . proud he was to drive such a brother! Thackeray.

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    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.

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    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.

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

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    The trade of life can not be driven without partners. Collier.

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    5. To clear, by forcing away what is contained.

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    To drive the country, force the swains away. Dryden.

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

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

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

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

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  2.       
    Drove (?), imp. of Drive.

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  3.       
    Drove, n. [AS. drāf, fr. drīfan to drive. See Drive.]
    1. A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body.

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    2. Any collection of irrational animals, moving or driving forward; as, “a finny drove”. Milton.

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    3. A crowd of people in motion.

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    Where droves, as at a city gate, may pass. Dryden.

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    4. A road for driving cattle; a driftway. [Eng.]

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    5. (Agric.) A narrow drain or channel used in the irrigation of land. Simmonds.

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    6. (Masonry) (a) A broad chisel used to bring stone to a nearly smooth surface; -- called also drove chisel. (b) The grooved surface of stone finished by the drove chisel; -- called also drove work.

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  4.       
    Drove (?), v. t. & i.  [imp. & p. p. Droved (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Droving (?).] [Cf. Drove, n., and Drover.]
    1. To drive, as cattle or sheep, esp. on long journeys; to follow the occupation of a drover.

    He's droving now with Conroy's sheep along the Castlereagh. Paterson.

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    2. To finish, as stone, with a drove or drove chisel.

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