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

• flock
• swarm
• throng
• crowd
• horde

Examples of drove in a Sentence

Noun

people flocked to the annual festival in droves

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

As droves of tourists continue to flock to Spain for European summer vacations, the nation’s emergency responders are dealing with the aftermath of a violent wave of flash flooding in nearly half of the country’s 50 provinces. —Opheli Garcia Lawler, Travel + Leisure, 14 July 2025

Alessia went on to be named UEFA’s player of the match for the 4-0 win over the Dutch on Wednesday, while droves of X users declared Giorgio too normal for Love Island. —Katie Whyatt, New York Times, 12 July 2025

Perdomo’s two-out single drove in McCarthy before Marte’s opposite-field homer made it 6-3. —Miami Herald, 28 June 2025

Garcia’s second single drove in the second run, with Witt lining to right for a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. —Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 21 May 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"