Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - drive

~1 v past tense drove, past participle driven 1 »OPERATE A VEHICLE« to sit in a car, bus etc and make it travel from one place to another  (Do you drive? | She drove the pick-up and got our supplies.) 2 »TRAVEL SOMEWHERE« to travel in a car  (Shall we drive or take the bus?) 3 »TAKE SB SOMEWHERE« to take someone somewhere in a car  (Just tell us when you have to go, and Jim will drive you. | drive sb back/down/over etc)  (Can I drive you home?) 4 »FEELING« to make someone feel or do something bad or unpleasant  (drive sb to sth)  (The children are driving me to despair. | drive sb to do sth)  (It was hunger that drove them to steal the bread. | be driven by sth (=be encouraged to do something by an unpleasant feeling or quality))  (Phil, driven by jealousy, started spying on his wife. | drive sb to drink (=upset someone very much))  (This job's enough to drive anyone to drink! | drive sb mad/crazy etc)  (The noise from the neighbours is driving me mad.) 5 »FORCE SB/STH« to force someone or something to go somewhere  (Tourists were driven indoors by the rain. | Cowhands drove the cattle into the corral.) 6 »PROVIDE POWER« to provide the power for something  (a steam-driven generator) 7 »HIT STH INTO STH« to hit something, such as a nail, into something else  (We watched Dad drive the posts into the ground.) 8 »SPORT« to move a ball in a game of football, golf etc by kicking, hitting, or bouncing (bounce1 (1)) it hard and fast  (Bonds drove the ball to center field.) 9 drive a hard bargain to make an agreement difficult by demanding a lot or refusing to give too much 10 drive sb out of their mind to do something that makes someone feel as if they are crazy 11 drive a coach and horses through sth to destroy an argument, plan etc completely  (The new bill will drive a coach and horses through recent trade agreements.) 12 »MAKE A HOLE« to make a large hole in something using heavy equipment or machinery  (They're planning to drive a tunnel through the mountains.) 13 drive home a point to make something completely clear to someone  (I tried to drive home the point that we need extra people, but the boss wasn't interested.) 14 drive a wedge between to do something that makes people disagree or start to dislike each other  (Lisa's lies drove a wedge between the couple.) 15 drive yourself too hard to force yourself to work too hard, because you want to be successful drive at sth phr v what sb is driving at the thing someone is really trying to say  (He didn't mention the word `redundancy' but I knew what he was driving at.) drive sb away phr v to behave in a way that forces someone to leave  (Your possessiveness will drive Liz away if you're not careful.) drive off phr v 1 if a car, driver etc drives off, they leave  (After the accident the other car just drove off.) 2 T drive someone/something off) to force someone or something that is attacking or threatening you to go away  (We keep dogs in the yard to drive off intruders.) 3 to hit the first ball in a game of golf drive sb/sth out phr v to force someone or something to leave  (Downtown stores are being driven out by crime.) drive sth up phr v to force prices, costs etc to rise quickly  (The oil shortage drove gas prices up by 20 cents a gallon.) ~2 n 1 »IN A CAR« a trip in a car  (It's a four day drive to Prague. | go for a drive)  (Let's go for a drive along the coast.) 2 »OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE« the area or road between your house and the street; driveway  (He parked his car in the drive.) 3 »SPORT« an act of hitting a ball hard, especially in tennis or golf  (He hit a long, high drive to right field.) 4 »A FIGHT FOR STH« a planned effort by an organization or government to achieve a change that will improve people's lives  (a big anti-smoking drive | economy drive (=effort to reduce spending)) 5 »NATURAL NEED« a strong natural need which must be satisfied  (Hunger is a human drive. | sex drive) 6 »SB'S ENERGY« determination and energy that make you successfully achieve something  (Brian has got tremendous drive.) 7 Drive used in the names of roads  (They live at 141 Park Drive.) 8 »POWER« the power from an engine that makes the wheels of a vehicle go round  (four wheel drive) 9 »MILITARY ATTACK« several military attacks  (a drive deep into enemy territory)  (- see also disk drive, whist drive)