drive

views updated May 14 2018

drive / drīv/ • v. (past drove / drōv/ ; past part. driv·en / ˈdrivən/ ) 1. [intr.] operate and control the direction and speed of a motor vehicle: he got into his car and drove off| they drove back into town. ∎  [tr.] own or use (a specified type of motor vehicle): Sue drives an old Chevy. ∎  [intr.] be licensed or competent to drive a motor vehicle: I take it you can drive? ∎  [tr.] convey (someone) in a vehicle, esp. a private car: Shelley drove him to the supermarket.2. [tr.] propel or carry along by force in a specified direction: the wind will drive you onshore. ∎  [intr.] (of wind, water, or snow) move or fall with great force: the snow drove against him. ∎  [tr.] (of a source of power) provide the energy to set and keep (an engine or piece of machinery) in motion: turbines driven by steam. ∎  Electr. (of a device) power or operate (another device): the interface can be used to drive a printer. ∎  [tr.] force (a stake or nail) into place by hitting or pushing it: nails are driven through the boards. ∎  [tr.] bore (a tunnel). ∎  (in ball games) hit or kick (the ball) hard with a free swing of the bat, racket, or foot. ∎  [tr.] Golf strike (a ball) from the tee, typically with a driver.3. [tr.] urge or force (animals or people) to move in a specified direction: they drove a flock of sheep through the center of the city. ∎  [tr.] urge forward and direct the course of (an animal drawing a vehicle or plow). ∎  [tr.] chase or frighten (wild animals) into nets, traps, or into a small area where they can be killed or captured: they were up on the hill before dawn, ready to drive the deer. ∎  compel to leave: troops drove out the demonstrators | he wanted to drive me away.4. [tr.] (usu. be driven) (of a fact or feeling) compel (someone) to act in a particular way, esp. one that is considered undesirable or inappropriate: he was driven by ambition | [tr.] some people are driven to murder their tormentors | [as adj.] (driven) my husband is a driven man. ∎  [tr.] bring (someone) forcibly into a specified negative state: the thought drove him to despair | [tr.] my laziness drives my wife crazy. ∎  [tr.] force (someone) to work to an excessive extent: you're driving yourself too hard.• n. 1. a trip or journey in a car: they went for a drive in the country. ∎  [in names] a street or road: Hammond Drive. ∎ short for driveway.2. Psychol. an innate, biologically determined urge to attain a goal or satisfy a need: her emotional and sexual drives. ∎  the determination and ambition of a person to achieve something: her drive has sustained her through some shattering personal experiences.3. an organized effort by a number of people to achieve a particular purpose, often to raise money: we're planning a massive membership drive. ∎ Football a series of offensive plays that advance the ball for the purpose of a score: an 80-yard scoring drive.4. the transmission of power to machinery or to the wheels of a motor vehicle. ∎  (in a car with automatic transmission) the position of the gear selector in which the car will move forward, changing gears automatically as required: he threw the car into drive. ∎  Comput. short for disk drive.5. (in ball games) a forceful stroke made with a free swing of the bat, racket, or foot against the ball. ∎  Golf a shot from the tee.6. an act of driving a group of animals to a particular destination.PHRASES: drive something home see home.what someone is driving at the point that someone is attempting to make: I don't understand what you're driving at.DERIVATIVES: driv·a·bil·i·ty / ˌdrīvəˈbilitē/ (also drive·a·bil·i·ty) n.driv·a·ble (also drive·a·ble) adj.

drive

views updated May 29 2018

drive drive-by shooting a shooting carried out from a passing vehicle; the term is recorded in the US from the early 1980s, and was linked particularly with rival teenage gangs and with the drug culture. The term drive-by soon began to be used figuratively, especially in implying a hit-and-run approach to a subject, as in drive-by documentary and drive-by journalism.
drive gently over the stones traditional advice to the inexperienced; saying recorded from the early 18th century.
you can drive out Nature with a pitchfork, but she keeps on coming back proverbial saying, mid 16th century; originally, with reference to the Epistles of the Roman poet Horace (65–8 bc), ‘Naturam expelles furca, tamen usque recurret [You may drive out nature with a pitchfork, yet she'll be constantly running back].’

drive

views updated May 14 2018

drive An outdated term used formerly to describe a type of motivation in animals, the psychological ‘force’ that leads to physical action. The term was abandoned because ‘force’ in the sense of ‘physical energy’ plays no direct part in psychological processes, the attempt to attribute a drive to each aspect of behaviour led to an uncontrollable proliferation of drives, and, ultimately, because the concept lacks explanatory power.

drive

views updated May 29 2018

drive An outdated term used formerly to describe a type of motivation in animals, the psychological ‘force’ that leads to physical action. The term was abandoned because ‘force’ in the sense of ‘physical energy’ plays no direct part in psychological processes, and because the attempt to attribute a drive to each aspect of behaviour led to an uncontrollable proliferation of drives.

Drive

views updated May 14 2018

Drive ★★ 1996 (R)

A technologically enhanced man (Dacascos), running from biotech corporate hitmen, offers a down-on-his-luck stranger (Hardison) $5 million to drive him from San Franscisco to L.A. And he won't take no for an answer. 99m/C VHS, DVD . Mark Dacascos, Kadeem Hardison, Brittany Murphy, John Pyper-Ferguson, Tracey Walter, James Shigeta, Masaya Kato; D: Steve Wang.

drive

views updated May 29 2018

drive The motivation that results in an animal performing a particular activity. There are two types: primary drive, which arises as a direct result of tissue requirements (e.g. the need for food or water); and secondary drive, resulting from learned behaviour.

drive

views updated Jun 08 2018

drive force to move before one; move or advance rapidly; carry on vigorously. OE. drīfan = OS. drīban (Du. drijven), OHG. trīban (G. treiben), ON. drifa, Goth. dreiban :- Gmc. str. vb. *drīban, with no certain cogns. outside Gmc.
Hence drive sb. act of driving XVII; carriage road XIX.

drive

views updated May 18 2018

drive Short for disk drive or tape drive, magnetic or optical.

Drive

views updated May 11 2018

Drive

collection of objects or animals driven. See also drift, drove.

Examples: drive of cattle; of logs [downstream], 1878; a deer drive, 1880; a grouse drive, 1880.