What does "drove" mean?
A cattle drive or the herd being driven by it; thus, a number of cattle driven to market or new pastures.
Drove
/dɹəʊv/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A cattle drive or the herd being driven by it; thus, a number of cattle driven to market or new pastures.
- Grammar: drove is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: army, bunch, cage, colony.
- Useful contrasts: deter, discourage, disperse.
- Usage evidence: We turned left at the corner and drove north.
How to use "drove"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "drove" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "drove" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "drove" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "drove" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "drove" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "army" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "drove", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A cattle drive or the herd being driven by it; thus, a number of cattle driven to market or new pastures.
- 2 a stonemason's chisel with a broad edge for dressing stone wordnet
- 3 A large number of people on the move. broadly, figuratively, plural-normally
"in droves"
- 4 a moving crowd wordnet
- 5 A group of hares. collective
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together wordnet
- 7 A road or track along which cattle are habitually, used to be or could be driven; a droveway.
- 8 A narrow drain or channel used in the irrigation of land.
- 9 A broad chisel used to bring stone to a nearly smooth surface.
- 10 The grooved surface of stone finished by the drove chisel.
Verb
- 1 simple past of drive form-of, past
"I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town."
- 2 To herd cattle; particularly over a long distance.
"He's droving now with Conroy's sheep along the Castlereagh."
- 3 past participle of drive dialectal, form-of, participle, past
"Not the Horn-Plague, but something worse, Had drove the frighted Cucks from thence."
- 4 To finish (stone) with a drove chisel. transitive
Antonyms
Example
"We turned left at the corner and drove north."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "drove"?
Common synonyms include: army, bunch, cage, colony, compel, corral.
How do you use "drove" in a sentence?
We turned left at the corner and drove north.
How do you pronounce "drove"?
Pronounced /dɹəʊv/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English drove, drof, draf, from Old English drāf (“action of driving; a driving out, expulsion; drove, herd, band; company, band; road along which cattle are driven”), from Proto-Germanic *draibō (“a drive, push, movement, drove”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”). Cognate with Scots drave, dreef (“drove, crowd”), Dutch dreef (“a walkway, wide road with trees, drove”), Middle High German treip (“a drove”), Swedish drev (“a drive, drove”), Icelandic dreif (“a scattering, distribution”). More at drive.
Etymology 2
From earlier drave, from Middle English drave, draf, from Old English drāf, first and third person singular indicative preterite of drīfan (“to drive”).