- drive
- ▪ I. drive drive 1 [draɪv] verb drove PASTTENSE [drəʊv ǁ droʊv] driven PASTPART [ˈdrɪvn] driving PRESPARTdrive a hard bargain COMMERCE to succeed by arguing in a very determined way in making an agreement that is very much to your advantage:
• Sorrell drives a hard bargain and may not sell at all if he can't get a suitable price.
drive something → down phrasal verb [transitive]to force prices, costs etc to fall:• pressures that could drive down interest rates
drive something → up phrasal verb [transitive]to force prices, costs etc to rise quickly:• A shortage is all it would take to tighten supplies and drive up prices.
[m0] ▪ II. drive drive 2 noun [countable]1. a planned effort by an organization to achieve something:• They have decided to sell some parts of the business in a drive to raise capital.
• The airlines will step up their recruitment drive for pilots in North America.
a series of events or activities aimed at advertising a product and increasing sales; = SALES CAMPAIGN:• : The company expects its sales drive in SE Asia to lift exports to the region by 20%.
2. COMPUTING a part of a computer that reads information from a disk:• Insert the floppy disk into Drive A.
ˌCD-ROM ˈdrive COMPUTINGa part of a computer into which you can put CD-ROMs and read information from them:• a personal computer with a built-in CD-ROM drive
ˈdisk driveCOMPUTING a piece of equipment in a computer system used to pass information to or from a disk:• The software scans all the disk drives to check for viruses.
• a 6GB hard disk drive
ˈtape drive COMPUTINGa small machine attached to a computer that passes information from a computer to a tape or from a tape to a computer* * *
Ⅰ.drive UK US /draɪv/ verb [T] (drove, driven)► to cause or influence something: be driven by sth »The country needs to shift from export-led growth to growth driven by domestic demand.
»This company is driven by customers and by the markets in which we do our business.
► to cause something to progress, develop, or grow stronger: »The firm said it would drive sales by switching into larger premises while closing smaller stores.
»The company yesterday reported record iron ore production for the year to June, driven by a construction and manufacturing boom in China.
► to force something to happen or someone to do something: drive sb/sth into/out of/to sth »Analysts say these policies will drive the economy into recession.
»The prospect of a consumer boom helped drive the stock market to new peaks yesterday.
Ⅱ.drive UK US /draɪv/ noun► [C] an effort to achieve something: drive for sth »The supermarket continues in its relentless drive for expansion.
drive to do sth »They are expanding their telephone banking service for small businesses in a key part of their drive to cut costs and boost efficiency.
»a recruitment/marketing/cost-cutting drive
► [C] IT a piece of equipment for reading and storing computer information: »a CD-ROM/DVD drive
► [U] energy and determination to achieve things: »We're looking for someone with drive and ambition to fill this important post.
drive to do sth »She has the drive to succeed.
→ See also DISK DRIVE(Cf. ↑disk drive), ECONOMY DRIVE(Cf. ↑economy drive), FLASH DRIVE(Cf. ↑flash drive), HARD DRIVE(Cf. ↑hard drive), SALES DRIVE(Cf. ↑sales drive), TAPE DRIVE(Cf. ↑tape drive), TEST DRIVE(Cf. ↑test drive)
Financial and business terms. 2012.
