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

The rest of the teaser for season 3 of Daryl Dixon depicts just that - desperate defense against the savage droves of zombies, hungry for flesh. —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 23 June 2025

Black women are feeling the effects of the droves of layoffs in the last few months. —Essence, 17 June 2025

Among the droves of beautiful apparel and footwear deals on sale at J.Crew right now, a secret selection of bags is also marked down and ready to be added to your packing list for the summer months. —Merrell Readman, Travel + Leisure, 7 June 2025

Marseille is a port city, constantly in motion; immigration waves from North Africa, Italy and Corsica have shaped much of its modern cultural fabric, and now young people from cities across Europe, lured by a less expensive cost of living and easy access to nature, are coming in droves. —Lily Radziemski, New York Times, 29 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"