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drive

drive

372 1.0
A trip in a car, often for travel or pleasure
  • noun
  • /draɪv/
translation icon : paseo en coche
  • It's time for us to take a little drive.
  • an hour's drive
  • take a drive
  • a long drive

So now we just have a three hour drive to Austin.

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Examples

  • At 8 a.m., we will board our buses for the drive to Cripple Creek.

    Academic text (1994)
  • It's about an hour's drive outside Yerevan.

  • And then we just got in the car and started the drive home. And

  • Well, we got a long drive back, so... bye.

  • -My son and I came over for a drive in the country, for some fresh air.

  • Oh, but, David, it was such a lovely night for a drive.

  • So now we just have a three hour drive to Austin.

  • And it was hard to be worried when it was such a gorgeous drive down the coast.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Donny, I know it's a long drive, but we've never been apart for the holidays.

  • The two of us are taking a drive out to Ocean City this weekend.

Synonyms

ride
vsdrive
1.0

A journey in a car, bus, or train

is mainly a trip by car for pleasure or transport
journey
vsdrive
1.1

A long trip from one place to another or a change in someone's life

is narrower, referring to trips in vehicles, often by car
spin
vsdrive
  • Informal
65 3.7

A short pleasant drive in a car

is used for longer or practical car trips as well
motoring
vsdrive
7 3.9

Driving a car for pleasure or travel

focuses on the single trip itself rather than ongoing activity

Idioms

158 3.2

Make someone very annoyed or upset

To cause people to argue or become divided on purpose

Leave a place happily at the end of a story or event

To find big holes in a law or plan and use them

To end something completely so it cannot continue

9.9

To drive in a very dangerous way that puts other people at risk

6.0

To make a car go very fast and in a dangerous way

Compounds

hard drive
  • Specialized
106 2.8

A device inside a computer that stores files and lets you open them

39 3.7

Place where people stay in their cars to eat or watch a movie

37 2.5

A car trip that takes a long time

sex drive
  • NSFW
25 4.2

A natural desire to have sex

23 2.5

A place, like a restaurant or bank, where you buy things without leaving your car

22 2.7

A short ride in a car to see how it feels and works

19 5.9

A gun attack from a moving car that hits people outside

16 7.9

A quick, friendly praise given to someone in passing

four-wheel drive
  • Specialized
16 3.4

A system that powers all four wheels for better grip on rough or slippery ground

12 4.2

A hard hit in baseball that flies straight and low

disk drive
  • Specialized
6 3.5

A device in a computer that holds and spins a disk to read or write data

4 6.3

A trip moving a large group of cows, often on horseback, over long distances

CD-ROM drive
  • Archaic
2 3.7

A device in or connected to a computer that reads data from CDs

A device you connect to a computer by cable to save files

tape drive
  • Specialized
1 5.2

A machine that reads and writes data on magnetic tape to save copies of files

internal drive
  • Specialized
1 4.2

A device inside a computer that stores files, like a hard drive or solid-state drive

1 2.7

A part of a computer or music player that reads CDs

1 2.8

A regular car trip to and from work each day

drive-by killing
  • Offensive
1 8.5

An act of shooting someone to death from a moving car

A planned event to collect money for a cause

1 7.4

A hard, straight hit into the outfield that lets the batter reach second base

1 6.6

A base hit made by hitting the ball hard so the batter reaches first base

drive line
  • Specialized
7.1

Parts that send power from the engine to the wheels that move the car

drive line system
  • Specialized
6.0

A vehicle system that sends engine power to the driving wheels

drive-by event
  • Neologism
4.6

A gathering where people stay in their cars and take part briefly

drive-by media
  • Literature
9.1

News outlets that give quick, shallow reports and often miss important facts

automatic drive
  • Specialized
3.2

A car system that changes gears by itself based on speed

automatic drive
  • Specialized
4.1

A mode in which a car moves, steers, and brakes using sensors and software

A hard straight shot hit with the racket across the body in tennis

fluid drive
  • Archaic
7.8

A device that uses fluid to connect an engine to the drive shaft smoothly

A hard straight shot hit from the side you hold the racket, used in tennis or badminton

5.3

A hard low hit in baseball that lets the batter reach third base

fusee drive
  • Archaic
9.9

A cone-shaped part in old clocks that keeps spring power steady as it unwinds

4.6

A car you rent and drive yourself

8.9

A car you rent and drive yourself for a short time

whist drive
  • Archaic
9.8

A social event where people play whist in rounds, often to raise money

7.5

A hard disk with a sealed case used in older computers to store data

How Long

long drive
37 2.5
drive
372 1.0
quick trip
11 1.4

Surface Forms

drive singular
drives plural

Etymology

Drive comes from Old English drīfan 'to move or push', and a 'drive' is simply the trip you take when you move a vehicle from one place to another.