Definition

Verb: 1. To force someone or something to leave or retreat: To cause a person, animal, or thing to go away from a place, often by using force, threats, or other means. 2. To repel or dispel something abstract: To cause an unwanted feeling, thought, or condition to go away or cease.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • The loud alarm and bright lights helped drive off the intruder. (The alarm and lights forced the intruder to leave.)
  • She tried to drive off the feeling of sadness by going for a run. (She tried to dispel the sad feeling by running.)
  • The farmer used a scarecrow to drive off the birds from his crops. (The farmer used a scarecrow to force the birds to leave his fields.)

Advanced Usage

• "to drive off an attack": To successfully repel or defend against an assault.
  • The garrison managed to drive off the enemy attack.
• "to drive off a challenge": To overcome a competitor or rival, causing them to withdraw.
  • The champion drove off all challengers to retain his title.

Variants and Related Words

• Drive away: A phrasal verb with essentially the same meaning as "drive off."
  • Please drive away the stray dogs from the garden.
• Repel: To force something to move back or away.
• Dispel: To make a doubt, feeling, or belief disappear.

Synonyms

• Repel
• Chase away
• Scare off
• Dispel (for abstract concepts)

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Drive out: To force someone or something to leave a place, often implying expulsion from an interior or enclosed space.
  • They were driven out of their homeland by war.
• Drive back: To force someone or something to retreat or go back the way they came.
  • The firefighters drove back the flames.

Related Idioms

• Drive someone to distraction: To annoy someone intensely. (Note: This idiom is related in form but has a different meaning, focusing on causing a state of mind rather than making someone leave.)
  • The constant noise drove 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