drive
/dɹaɪv/verb, noun
drive is spelled D-R-I-V-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 135 times per million words in written English, the 770th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, drive means “To operate (a wheeled motorized vehicle)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in drive?
| Letters | 5: D-R-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 135 times per million words; the 770th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is drive?
Drive appears 135 times per million words in written English, the 770th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce drive?
- US /dɹaɪv/
- US [d̠ɹ̠ ̝(ʷ)aɪv]
- US [d͡ʒɹaɪv]
Drive has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-to_drive.ogg, En-us-drive.ogg, En-au-drive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with drive?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as drive from its last stressed vowel (/aɪv/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: diver.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of drive
- drives present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- driving participle, present
- drove past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- driven participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does drive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To operate (a wheeled motorized vehicle).
The bridges weren't strong enough to drive (campers) over.
- 2
To travel by operating a wheeled motorized vehicle.
I drive to work every day.
- 3
To convey (a person, etc.) in a wheeled motorized vehicle.
My cousin drove me to the airport.
- 4
slangTo operate (an aircraft); to pilot.
drive a 737
- 5
To direct a vehicle powered by a horse, ox or similar animal.
- 6
(especially of animals) To impel or urge onward by force; to push forward; to compel to move on.
to drive twenty thousand head of cattle from Texas to the Kansas railheads; to drive sheep out of a field
- 7
(especially animals) To cause to flee out of.
The hunting dog drove the birds out of the tall grass.
- 8
To provide an impetus for motion or other physical change, to move an object by means of the provision of force thereto.
You drive nails into wood with any hammer; it's not as strenuous as driving a tunnel through the rock.
noun
- 1
Planned, usually long-lasting, effort to achieve something; ability coupled with ambition, determination, and motivation.
Crassus had wealth and wit, but Pompey had drive and Caesar as much again.
- 2
Violent or rapid motion; a rushing onward or away; (especially) a forced or hurried dispatch of business.
- 3
An act of driving game animals forward, to be captured or hunted.
- 4
An act of driving livestock animals forward, to transport a herd.
- 5
A sustained advance in the face of the enemy to take an objective.
Napoleon's drive on Moscow was as determined as it was disastrous.
- 6
A mechanism used to power or give motion to a vehicle or other machine or machine part.
steam drive, nuclear drive, chain drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, front-wheel drive
- 7
The location of the steering wheel used to control a vehicle.
left-hand drive, right-hand drive
- 8
The gear into which one usually shifts an automatic transmission when one is driving a car or truck. (Denoted with symbol D on a shifter's labeling.)
Normally you should be in drive, although you can select a lower gear such as 2 or 1 for certain conditions, such as prolonged downhill stretches.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate drive?
Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of drive: D, Dr., dr.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Drive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | conduire , aller, rouler , dynamisme, élan, volonté |
| German | fahren , Schwung, Elan , führen , antreiben, treiben |
| Portuguese | conduzir, dirigir , tocar, tanger , espantar , impelir |
| Spanish | conducir, manejar, timonear , ir en coche , dispositivo, motor |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does drive come from?
From Middle English driven, from Old English drīfan (“to drive, force, move”), from Proto-West Germanic *drīban, from Proto-Germanic *drībaną (“to drive”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).