Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To cause someone or something to leave or depart, often by creating an unpleasant or unwelcome situation. This meaning applies to both physical entities and abstract concepts.
   • To repel, dispel, or force into retreat.

Usage

• The verb 'drive away' is used with a direct object (the person or thing being caused to leave).
• It often implies using some form of pressure, threat, force, or negative condition to achieve the departure.
• It can be used in both literal (physical) and figurative (metaphorical) contexts.

Examples

• Literal (Physical):
  • The loud noise drove away the birds from the garden.
  • Store security drove away the loiterers from the entrance.
• Figurative (Abstract):
  • His constant negativity drives away potential friends.
  • She tried to drive away her feelings of anxiety by going for a run.

Advanced Usage

• "to drive away a crowd": to cause a group of people to disperse.
  • The police used water cannons to drive away the protesting crowd.
• "to drive away business/customers": to cause customers to stop patronizing a business.
  • Poor customer service can drive away even the most loyal clients.

Variants and Related Words

• Drive off: A very close synonym, often used interchangeably with 'drive away', especially in the context of forcing someone to retreat. (e.g., )
• Dispel (verb): To make a doubt, feeling, or belief disappear. (e.g., )
• Repel (verb): To force or drive back; to cause aversion. (e.g., / )
• Chase away: To pursue in order to force to leave. (e.g., )

Synonyms

• Dispel
• Repel
• Chase away
• Scatter
• Turn away

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Drive out: To expel or force to leave a place, often more forcefully or completely than 'drive away'.
  • The revolution aimed to drive out the corrupt government.
• Drive back: To force to retreat or go back the way they came.
  • The army drove back the enemy forces.

Related Idioms

• To drive someone to distraction: To annoy someone intensely. (Note: This idiom is related in the sense of causing an unwanted state, but does not mean "to make someone leave".)
  • The constant noise is driving me to distraction.

Verb

1. force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings
   • Drive away potential burglars
   • drive away bad thoughts
   • dispel doubts
   • The supermarket had to turn back many disappointed customers