Drive-through

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An establishment, especially a restaurant, providing drive-through service.

    "Since I was pressed for time, I picked up burgers at a drive-through on the way home."

  2. 2
    The window of such an establishment adapted for such purpose.

    "“Please pull forward and pay at the drive-through,” said the attendant upon taking my order."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of an establishment, providing service to occupants of automobiles while they are in their still-running vehicle, especially when the vehicle does not park in a parking space and the goods received are not consumed until the vehicle vacates the lane. not-comparable

    "I switched banks so that I could use a drive-through branch near my home."

  2. 2
    Of a feature of such an establishment (especially a window), adapted to provide such service. not-comparable

    "The restaurant’s drive-through window had a turntable of bulletproof glass designed to allow transactions while preventing robberies."

Example

More examples

"I switched banks so that I could use a drive-through branch near my home."

Etymology

Deverbal from drive through.

Related phrases

ski-throughski-through

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.