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

Long before glossy travel magazines, Instagram influencers, and TikTok guides led droves of tourists toward Aruba’s bustling hotel zones, there was Savaneta—a quiet fishing village that once held the title as the island’s capital. —Ashlee Marie Preston, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025

Related article Tracking Trump’s overhaul of the federal workforce The Department of Government Efficiency has run roughshod on the federal government, slashing funding, scrapping contracts and laying off droves of federal workers. —Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2025

But even two days before peak bloom, droves of people came out to see the spectacle. —Brittney Melton, NPR, 31 Mar. 2025

If any of the men in black and white lacked motivation, the merest glances to the fans who’d traveled in their droves from the North-east would refuel them in an instant. —Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 23 Mar. 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"