drove
English · Thesaurus
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drove¹
- /dɹəʊv/ UK
- /dɹoʊv/ US
Rhymes with -əʊv
Where it comes from
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.
noun droves
-
The herd being driven in a cattle (or other animal) drive; thus, a number of animals driven to market or new pastures; a group of livestock animals more generally.
Similar: drift
- A large number of people on the move. in droves
- A group of other animals, especially hares when seen in coursing or hunting. The boy hunters had arrived at the wood grove, far off from the wary drove of hares, who resumed foraging cautiously, as before.
- A road or track along which cattle are habitually, used to be or could be driven; a droveway.
- A narrow drain or channel used in the irrigation of land.
- A broad chisel used to bring stone to a nearly smooth surface.
- The grooved surface of stone finished by the drove chisel.
drove²
- /dɹəʊv/ UK
- /dɹoʊv/ US
Rhymes with -əʊv
Where it comes from
From earlier drave, from Middle English drave, draf, from Old English drāf, first and third person singular indicative preterite of drīfan (“to drive”).
verb
- simple past of drive 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.
- past participle of drive Not the Horn-Plague, but something worse, Had drove the frighted Cucks from thence.
verb droves · droving · droved
-
To herd cattle; particularly over a long distance.
He's droving now with Conroy's sheep along the Castlereagh.
Similar: drive
- To finish (stone) with a drove chisel.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: swarm, horde, drove chisel, herd, hunted, made, bolstered, fell, spurred, breathed, pounced, flew, galvanized, flock, rammed, sailed
Translations
Every language
noun number of cattle driven to market or new pastures
| Español | manada, tropa (Arg., Bol., Par. and Ur.), arreo, recua |
|---|---|
| Français | troupeau, manade, horde |
| Deutsch | Herde |
| Italiano | mandria, armento, branco |
| Русский | гурт gurt, ста́до stádo |
noun large number of people on the move
| Español | legión, tropel |
|---|---|
| Français | foule |
| Deutsch | Schar |
| Italiano | calca, massa |
| Русский | толпа́ tolpá |
noun road or track along which cattle are habitually driven — see also droveway
| Español | cañada, vía pecuaria |
|---|---|
| Italiano | pista, passaggi obbligati, attraversamento |
verb to herd cattle, to move cattle over a long distance
| 中文 | 趕 /赶 gǎn |
|---|---|
| Italiano | transumare, condurre, guidare |
Talk about this word "drove." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/drove. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. drove. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/drove "drove." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/drove.Cite this
@misc{drove_2026,
title = {drove},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/drove},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
