drive
(Informal)
[verb]
Synonyms:
- operate, direct, guide, handle, manage, motor, ride, steer, travel
- goad, coerce, constrain, force, press, prod, prompt, spur
- push, herd, hurl, impel, propel, send, urge
- push, hammer, ram, thrust
[noun]
Synonyms:
- run, excursion, jaunt, journey, outing, ride, spin (informal), trip
- campaign, action, appeal, crusade, effort, push (informal)
- initiative, ambition, energy, enterprise, get-up-and-go (informal), motivation, vigour, zip (informal)

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Contrasted words: check, curb, inhibit, restrain, guide, lead, pilot, steer
Related Words: coerce, compel, force, incite, instigate, shepherd, wrangle, egg, exhort, goad, prick, prod, punch, sic, spur, urge, operate, run, work, guide, steer, roll, chauffeur, whirl, joyride, excursion, outing, impetus, momentum, speed, velocity

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English Thesaurus: decide, make up your mind, choose to do something, make a decision, resolve, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. drive¹ S1 W1 /draɪv/ verb (past tense drove /drəʊv $ droʊv/, past participle driven /ˈdrɪvən/)
[Word Family: noun: drive, driver, driving; verb: drive; adjective: driving]
[Language: Old English; Origin: drifan]

1. VEHICLE
a) [intransitive and transitive] to make a car, truck, bus etc move along
drive to/down/off etc
I am planning to drive to Morocco next year.
the man driving the car
Can you drive?
So when did you learn to drive?
Bye! Drive carefully!
He drives 12 miles to work.
He drives (=has) a BMW estate.
b) [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if a car, truck etc drives somewhere, it moves there:
After the accident, the other car just drove off.
c) [intransitive] if people drive somewhere, they travel somewhere in a car:
Shall we drive or take the bus?
drive to/down/off etc
They drove back to Woodside.
d) [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to take someone somewhere in a car, truck etc:
She drove Anna to London.
I’ll drive you home.
drive yourself
I drove myself to hospital.

2. MAKE SOMEBODY MOVE [transitive] to force a person or animal to go somewhere:
Torrential rain drove the players off the course.
With a few loud whistles, they drove the donkeys out of the enclosure.

3. MAKE SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING [transitive] to strongly influence someone to do something
drive somebody to do something
The detective wondered what had driven Christine to phone her.
drive somebody to/into something
The noises in my head have nearly driven me to suicide.
Phil, driven by jealousy, started spying on his wife.

4. MAKE SOMEBODY/SOMETHING BE IN A BAD STATE [transitive] to make someone or something get into a bad or extreme state, usually an emotional one
drive somebody crazy/nuts/mad/insane (=make someone feel very annoyed)
This cough is driving me mad!
drive somebody crazy/wild (=make someone feel very sexually excited)
drive somebody up the wall/out of their mind (=make someone feel very annoyed)
drive somebody to distraction/desperation
The mosquitoes drive me to distraction.
drive somebody/something into something
The factory had been driven into bankruptcy.

5. HIT/PUSH SOMETHING INTO SOMETHING [transitive] to hit or push something into something else
drive something into something
We watched Dad drive the posts into the ground.
She drove her heels into the sand.

6. MAKE SOMEBODY WORK [transitive] to make a person or animal work hard
drive yourself
Don’t drive yourself too hard.

7. SPORTS [intransitive and transitive]
a) to move a ball etc forward in a game of baseball, football, golf etc by hitting or kicking it hard and fast:
He drove the ball into the corner of the net.
b) to run with the ball towards the goal in sports such as basketball and American football

8. PROVIDE POWER [transitive] to provide the power for a vehicle or machine
petrol-driven/electrically-driven/battery-driven etc
a petrol-driven lawn mower

9. RAIN/WIND ETC [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if rain, snow, wind etc drives somewhere, it moves very quickly in that direction:
The rain was driving down hard.

10. drive a coach and horses through something to destroy an argument, plan etc completely:
The new bill will drive a coach and horses through recent trade agreements.

11. MAKE A HOLE [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to make a large hole in something using heavy equipment or machinery:
They drove a tunnel through the mountains.

12. drive something home to make something completely clear to someone:
He didn’t have to drive the point home. The videotape had done that.

13. drive a wedge between somebody to do something that makes people disagree or start to dislike each other:
I don’t want to drive a wedge between you and your father.
⇒ drive/strike a hard bargain at hard¹(18)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. drive² S2 W2 noun
[Word Family: noun: drive, driver, driving; verb: drive; adjective: driving]

1. IN A CAR [countable] a journey in a car
drive to/along etc
Let’s go for a drive along the coast.
Taylor took me for a drive through the town.
an hour’s/a two hour etc drive
It’s a two hour drive from Calais to Thiepval.

2. NATURAL NEED [countable] a strong natural need or desire:
The treatment will not affect your sex drive.

3. OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE [countable] the hard area or road between your house and the street Synonym : driveway
in/on the drive
He parked his car in the drive.

4. EFFORT [countable] an effort to achieve something, especially an effort by an organization for a particular purpose:
a recruitment drive for new members
an economy drive (=effort to reduce spending)
drive to do something
a nationwide drive to crack down on crime

5. DETERMINATION [uncountable] determination and energy to succeed:
Brian has got tremendous drive.

6. POWER [uncountable] the power from an engine that makes the wheels of a vehicle go round
front-wheel/rear-wheel/four-wheel drive

7. COMPUTER [countable] a piece of equipment in a computer that is used to get information from a disk or to store information on it
hard/floppy/A etc drive ⇒ disk drive

8. SPORT [countable] an act of hitting a ball hard, especially in tennis, baseball, or golf:
He hit a long, high drive to right field.

9. MILITARY ATTACK [countable] several military attacks
drive into
a drive deep into enemy territory

10. ANIMALS [countable] when animals such as cows or sheep are brought together and made to move in a particular direction

11. Drive used in the names of roads:
141 Park Drive

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

drive
noun
I. car journey
ADJ. long | easy, short | eight-hour, sixty-mile, etc. | leisurely | pleasant, scenic It's a pleasant drive to the coast.
test
VERB + DRIVE go for, take Let's go for a drive.
PREP. within a ~ All my family live within an hour's drive.
PHRASES a … drive away The lakes are only a short drive away.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drive
II. way a vehicle is moved
ADJ. all-wheel, four-wheel, front-wheel, rear-wheel | left-hand, right-hand Left-hand drive cars make driving in Britain difficult.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drive
III. path/road outside a house
ADJ. sweeping, winding | gravel/gravelled | tree-lined | private | front
DRIVE + VERB sweep, swing A gravel drive swept between manicured lawns.
PREP. down the ~, in the ~, on the ~ There was a car parked on the drive.
up the ~ He walked up the front drive of the vicarage.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drive
IV. energy/determination
ADJ. competitive | personal | narrative A lack of narrative drive leaves the reader with piecemeal vignettes.
VERB + DRIVE have | lack He lacks the competitive drive needed to succeed.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drive
V. desire/need
ADJ. innate, inner, instinctive/instinctual | creative | emotional, sex/sexual

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drive
VI. effort
ADJ. big | relentless | national, nationwide | cost-cutting, efficiency, export, fundraising, marketing, membership, modernization, recruitment, sales | anti-corruption, anti-drug, etc.
VERB + DRIVE launch We're going to launch a big recruitment drive in the autumn.
PREP. ~ against a drive against corruption
~ by the recent recruitment drive by the police
~ for the country's drive for modernization
~ towards a drive towards higher safety standards

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drive
VII. computing
ADJ. CD-ROM, disk, DVD, floppy, hard, zip

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drive
VIII. in sport
ADJ. powerful, strong, thunderous | angled, crisp | left-foot, right-foot (in football) Cole scored with a thunderous left-foot drive.
backhand, forehand (in tennis) a forehand drive down the line
VERB + DRIVE hit | hook, slice (in golf)
 ⇒ Special page at SPORT

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drive
verb
ADV. fast, quickly You shouldn't drive so fast! She drove quickly back to the office.
slowly | carefully | recklessly He was arrested for driving recklessly.
around, away, back, off, on She got into the car and drove away.
PREP. from, to driving from London to Manchester
PHRASES drink and drive

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drive

drive somebody crazy/mad/insane spoken (also drive somebody nuts spoken informal) (=make someone feel very annoyed)
The continuous noise was driving me crazy.
drive somebody crazy/wild (=make someone feel very sexually excited)
He drives women wild.
drive somebody up the wall/round the bend/out of their mind spoken informal (=make someone feel very annoyed)
That voice of hers drives me up the wall.
drive somebody to distraction (=make someone feel very upset or annoyed)
She was being driven to distraction by her husband’s bad habits.
drive somebody to despair/desperation (=make someone despair)
Escalating personal debts have driven many people to despair.
drive somebody to drink (=make someone so annoyed or upset that they depend on alcohol)
His problems had almost driven him to drink.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

drive
verb
See AGAINST (against)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

decide to make a choice to do something:
We decided to send our son to a boarding school.
I decided to go home early.
make up your mind to decide something, especially after thinking about it for a long time. Make up your mind is less formal than decide and is mainly used in spoken English:
Have you made up your mind about where you’ll go on holiday?
choose to do something to decide to do something – especially when this is different from what people expect or tell you to do:
She chose to ignore my advice.
More young couples are choosing not to marry.
make a decision to decide after thinking carefully about something, especially about something that is very important:
They made a decision not to have children.
resolve formal to decide that you will definitely do something, especially because you think it will be better for you, or because of your past experiences:
She resolved to work hard at school.
determine formal to officially decide what something shall be:
Each hospital can determine its own pay rates.
come down in favour of something British English, come down in favor of something American English to decide to support a particular plan, argument etc – used especially about groups of people:
Eight of the ten committee members came down in favour of the changes.
come to/reach a decision to officially decide about something important after discussing and carefully considering it - used especially about groups of people:
After two hours of discussion, the comittee had still not come to a decision on any of the proposals.
determination the quality of continuing to try to do something, even when it is difficult:
Bill got where he is today by sheer hard work and determination.
I really admired her determination to live her own life.
willpower the ability to control your mind and body in order to achieve something you have decided to do:
It takes a lot of willpower to give up smoking.
She made herself get better by sheer willpower, when everyone else had given up hope.
drive the determination and energy to succeed, especially in business or work:
We’re looking for young people who have drive, initiative, and new ideas.
He’s clever enough, but he lacks drive.
perseverance the ability to continue trying to achieve something over a long period in a patient way, even when this is difficult:
Reaching this standard of musical skill requires incredible perseverance.
A good teacher should have imagination and perseverance.
ruthlessness the quality of being extremely determined to achieve what you want, and not caring if you have to hurt other people to do it:
He was a man who pursued his aims with complete ruthlessness.
The revolt was suppressed with total ruthlessness.
tenacity formal the determination to never stop trying to do something, especially when other people try to stop you:
He clung to power with a remarkable tenacity.
When fighting cancer, Tsongas showed the same tenacity he displayed in politics.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

determination the quality of continuing to try to do something, even when it is difficult:
Bill got where he is today by sheer hard work and determination.
I really admired her determination to live her own life.
willpower the ability to control your mind and body in order to achieve something you have decided to do:
It takes a lot of willpower to give up smoking.
She made herself get better by sheer willpower, when everyone else had given up hope.
drive the determination and energy to succeed, especially in business or work:
We’re looking for young people who have drive, initiative, and new ideas.
He’s clever enough, but he lacks drive.
resolve formal a strong determination to succeed in doing something, especially because you are sure that it is a good thing to do:
The poverty she saw there strengthened her resolve to do something to help.
The success of a military enterprise depends partly on the resolve of its leaders.
perseverance the ability to continue trying to achieve something over a long period in a patient way, even when this is difficult:
Reaching this standard of musical skill requires incredible perseverance.
A good teacher should have imagination and perseverance.
ruthlessness the quality of being extremely determined to achieve what you want, and not caring if you have to hurt other people to do it:
He was a man who pursued his aims with complete ruthlessness.
The revolt was suppressed with total ruthlessness.
tenacity formal the determination to never stop trying to do something, especially when other people try to stop you:
He clung to power with a remarkable tenacity.
When fighting cancer, Tsongas showed the same tenacity he displayed in politics.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

journey especially British English an occasion when you travel from one place to another – used especially about travelling a long distance, or travelling somewhere regularly:
The journey took us over three hours.
My journey to work normally takes around 30 minutes.
a four-hour train journey
trip a journey to visit a place:
How about a trip to the seaside on Saturday?
a business trip
tour a journey for pleasure, during which you visit several different towns, areas etc:
Last summer we went on a tour of Europe.
excursion a short journey by a group of people to visit a place, especially while they are on holiday:
The cost of the holiday includes excursions to nearby places of interest.
expedition a long and carefully organized journey, especially to a dangerous or unfamiliar place:
Scott’s expedition to the Antarctic
a military expedition
commute the journey to and from work that someone does every day:
People are fed up with the daily commute on overcrowded trains.
pilgrimage /ˈpɪlɡrəmɪdʒ, ˈpɪlɡrɪmɪdʒ/ a journey to a holy place for religious reasons:
the annual pilgrimage to Mecca
trek a long journey, for example over mountains or through forests, especially one that people do on foot for pleasure:
a two-week trek across the Atlas Mountains
travel noun [uncountable] the general activity of moving from one place to another:
Her new job involves a lot of travel.
sb’s travels noun [plural] someone’s journeys to or in places that are far away:
I’m longing to hear all about your travels in China.
flight a journey by air:
You should check in at the airport two hours before your flight.
voyage /ˈvɔɪ-ɪdʒ/ a long journey over the sea:
MacArthur’s epic round-the-world voyage
crossing a short journey by boat from one piece of land to another:
A 30-minute ferry crossing takes you to the island.
cruise a journey by boat for pleasure:
a Mediterranean cruise
a cruise down the Nile
drive a journey in a car, often for pleasure:
The drive through the mountains was absolutely beautiful.
ride a short journey in a car, or on a bicycle or horse:
It’s a twenty-minute taxi ride to the station.
a bike ride
go to go somewhere – often used instead of travel:
We’re going to Greece for our holidays this year.
He’s gone to London on business.
It’s quicker to go by plane.
cross to travel across a very large area, for example a desert or ocean:
The slaves crossed the Atlantic in the holds of the ships.
go trekking to do a long and difficult walk in a place far from towns and cities:
They went trekking in the mountains.
She’s been trekking in Nepal a couple of times.
go backpacking to travel to a lot of different places, carrying your clothes with you in your rucksack:
He went backpacking in Australia.
roam especially written to travel or move around an area with no clear purpose or direction, usually for a long time:
When he was young, he roamed from one country to another.
The tribes used to roam around freely, without any fixed territory.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

parking space/place a space in a street, car park etc where a car can be left
garage a building for keeping a car in, usually next to or attached to a house
parking garage especially American English a building near or under a public place where cars can be parked
car park British English, parking lot American English an area where cars can be parked
multistorey car park British English a building with many levels where cars can be parked
carport a shelter for a car which has a roof but no sides
drive British English, driveway American English the hard area between your house or garage and the street. on which you can leave a car

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

drive
draɪv
See: line drive

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲