drove

noun \ ˈdrōv \

Updated on: 12 May 2018

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

See drove defined for English-language learners

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Examples of drove in a Sentence

people flocked to the annual festival in droves

Recent Examples of drove from the Web

But people were coming in droves to invest in Malaysia.

— laignee barron / langkawi, Time, "Could Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad Become the World’s Oldest Leader? He Speaks to TIME About What Sparked His Political Comeback," 8 May 2018
So if people are leaving the Bay Area in droves, why are home prices still soaring and why aren’t there more houses for sale?

— kathleen pender, San Francisco Chronicle, "If people are fleeing the Bay Area for cheaper housing, why is it still so costly?," 4 May 2018
That’s due to a number of factors, according to the strategists, including the fact that mom-and-pop investors entered the market in droves.

— yakob peterseil, Bloomberg.com, "At $1 Trillion, Leveraged Loans Are Closing In on Junk Bonds," 3 May 2018
Drowning in a sea of e-paperwork, docs are quitting, retiring, and scaling back hours in droves.

— megan molteni, WIRED, "Does Your Doctor Need a Voice Assistant?," 1 May 2018
After a long winter, the first nice day of spring had brought people out in droves.

— michael taube, WSJ, "A Terrible Day for ‘Toronto the Good’," 24 Apr. 2018
While Republicans have fled some of the state's other large urban counties in droves for surrounding suburbs, in Tarrant, many of those conservative voters moved to suburbs within the county, keeping it a GOP stronghold for years.

— abby livingston, star-telegram, "Beto O'Rourke draws large crowds in Tarrant County in bid against Cruz | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 28 Feb. 2018
Mobilized against a lightning-rod Republican governor (Scott Walker) and president (Donald Trump), these voters are poised to turn out in droves for the mid-term elections this fall.

— craig gilbert, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Dane County is undergoing an economic boom, but its one-sided politics have huge consequences," 1 Feb. 2018
But customers could be canceling their monthly leases in droves.

— aaron pressman, Fortune, "Data Sheet—Why WeWork Has to Pay Up for Rapid Growth," 25 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'drove.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of drove

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

drove Synonyms

Synonyms

army, crowd, crush, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mass, mob, multitude, press, rout, swarm, throng;

gaggle;

heap, mountain, pile;

jam, logjam;

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

apiary, bantam, calico, girth, hogwash, mast, rut

drove

past tense of drive

DROVE Defined for English Language Learners

drove

noun

: a large group of people or animals that move or act together

DROVE Defined for Kids

drove

noun \ ˈdrōv \

: a large group of animals or people moving or acting together

droves of shoppers

drove

past tense of drive

Learn More about drove

See words that rhyme with drove Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for drove Spanish Central: Translation of drove Nglish: Translation of drove for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of drove for Arabic speakers

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drove

DROVE Defined for English Language Learners

drove

DROVE Defined for Kids

drove

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Origin and Etymology of drove

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drove

DROVE Defined for English Language Learners

drove

DROVE Defined for Kids

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