drove

1 of 2

noun

ˈdrōv 

1

: a group of animals driven or moving in a body

2

: a large number : crowd

—usually used in plural especially with in

came in droves

drove

2 of 2

past tense of drive

Synonyms

Noun

• army
• bike [chiefly Scottish]
• cram
• crowd
• crush
• flock
• herd
• horde
• host
• legion
• mass
• mob
• multitude
• press
• rout
• scrum
• swarm
• throng

Examples of drove in a Sentence

Noun

people flocked to the annual festival in droves

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Join the droves of shoppers gearing up for hot weather and grab the Black and Decker Portable Air Cooler for under $30 at Amazon. —Isabel Garcia, People.com, 30 Apr. 2025

Subsidies and incentives for manufacturers were plentiful, and businesses came in droves to take advantage of cheap supply chains. —Steven Dudash, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025

Benjies deli turns 40 Customers came in droves, especially from the nearby Temple Beth Sholom, to get their hands on substantial dishes inside the venue. —Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 15 Apr. 2025

Long before glossy travel magazines, Instagram influencers, and TikTok guides led droves of tourists toward Aruba’s bustling hotel zones, there was Savaneta—a quiet fishing village that once held the title as the island’s capital. —Ashlee Marie Preston, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English drāf, from drīfan to drive — more at drive

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for drove

• clove
• cove
• rove
• shrove
• stove
• strove
• throve
• trove
• wove
• alcove
• mangrove

Kids Definition

drove

1 of 2 noun

ˈdrōv 

1

: a group of animals driven or moving in a body

2

: a crowd of people moving or acting together

drove

2 of 2

past of drive

Etymology

Noun

Old English drāf "group of animals moving together," from drīfan "to drive"