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Drive vs Mean - What's the difference?

drive | mean | Synonyms |

In transitive terms the difference between drive and mean

is that drive is to convey (a person, etc) in a wheeled motorized vehicle while mean is to be important (to).

In intransitive terms the difference between drive and mean

is that drive is to move forcefully while mean is to have intentions of a given kind.

In obsolete terms the difference between drive and mean

is that drive is to distrain for rent while mean is middling; intermediate; moderately good, tolerable.

As an adjective mean is

common; general.

drive

English

Verb

  • To impel or urge onward by force; to push forward; to compel to move on.
  • to drive sheep out of a field
  • * Jowett (Thucyd.)
  • A storm came on and drove them into Pylos.
  • (intransitive) To direct a vehicle powered by a horse, ox or similar animal.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.}}
  • To cause animals to flee out of.
  • To move (something) by hitting it with great force.
  • To cause (a mechanism) to operate.
  • (ergative) To operate (a wheeled motorized vehicle).
  • To motivate; to provide an incentive for.
  • To compel (to do something).
  • To cause to become.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.}}
  • (cricket) To hit the ball with a .
  • To travel by operating a wheeled motorized vehicle.
  • To convey (a person, etc) in a wheeled motorized vehicle.
  • To move forcefully.
  • * Dryden
  • Fierce Boreas drove against his flying sails.
  • * Prescott
  • under cover of the night and a driving tempest
  • * Tennyson
  • Time driveth onward fast, / And in a little while our lips are dumb.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2010, date=December 29, author=Mark Vesty, work=BBC
  • , title= Wigan 2-2 Arsenal , passage=The impressive Frenchman drove forward with purpose down the right before cutting infield and darting in between Vassiriki Diaby and Koscielny. }}
  • To urge, press, or bring to a point or state.
  • * Tennyson
  • enough to drive one mad
  • * Sir Philip Sidney
  • He, driven to dismount, threatened, if I did not do the like, to do as much for my horse as fortune had done for his.
  • To carry or to keep in motion; to conduct; to prosecute.
  • * Collier
  • The trade of life can not be driven without partners.
    (Francis Bacon)
  • To clear, by forcing away what is contained.
  • * Dryden
  • to drive the country, force the swains away
  • (mining) To dig horizontally; to cut a horizontal gallery or tunnel.
  • (Tomlinson)
  • (obsolete) To distrain for rent.
  • Synonyms

    * herd * (cause animals to flee out of) * (move something by hitting it with great force) force, push * move, operate * * impel, incentivise/incentivize, motivate, push, urge * (compel) compel, force, oblige, push, require * (cause to become) make, send * (travel by operating a wheeled motorized vehicle) * take

    Derived terms

    * bedrive * drink and drive * driveable * drive a coach and horses through * drive a hard bargain * drive at * drive-boat * drive-bolt * drive-by * drivee * drive home * drive-in * drive Irish tandem * drive-line * drive off * drive-off * drive-on * * drive out * drive-pipe * driver * drive-screw * drive-shaft * drive-through, drivethrough * drive time * drive to distraction * drive to drink * drive-train * drive-wheel * drive-yourself * driving * fordrive * let drive

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (senseid)Self-motivation; ability coupled with ambition.
  • Violent or rapid motion; a rushing onward or away; especially, a forced or hurried dispatch of business.
  • * (Matthew Arnold)
  • The Murdstonian drive in business.
  • An act of driving animals forward, to be captured, hunted etc.
  • * 1955 , (Robin Jenkins), The Cone-Gatherers , Canongate 2012, p. 79:
  • Are you all ready?’ he cried, and set off towards the dead ash where the drive would begin.
  • (military) A sustained advance in the face of the enemy to take a strategic objective.
  • A motor that does not take fuel, but instead depends on a mechanism that stores potential energy for subsequent use.
  • A trip made in a motor vehicle.
  • A driveway.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive , for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.}}
  • A type of public roadway.
  • (dated) A place suitable or agreeable for driving; a road prepared for driving.
  • (psychology) Desire or interest.
  • (computing) An apparatus for reading and writing data to or from a mass storage device such as a disk, as a floppy drive.
  • (computing) A mass storage device in which the mechanism for reading and writing data is integrated with the mechanism for storing data, as a hard drive, a flash drive.
  • (golf) A stroke made with a driver.
  • (baseball) A ball struck in a flat trajectory.
  • (cricket) A type of shot played by swinging the bat in a vertical arc, through the line of the ball, and hitting it along the ground, normally between cover and midwicket.
  • (soccer) A straight level shot or pass.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2010, date=December 29, author=Mark Vesty, work=BBC
  • , title= Wigan 2-2 Arsenal , passage=And after Rodallega missed two early opportunities, the first a header, the second a low drive easily held by Lukasz Fabianski, it was N'Zogbia who created the opening goal. }}
  • A charity event such as a fundraiser, bake sale, or toy drive
  • (typography) An impression or matrix formed by a punch drift.
  • A collection of objects that are driven; a mass of logs to be floated down a river.
  • Usage notes

    * In connection with a mass-storage device, originally the word "drive" referred solely to the reading and writing mechanism. For the storage device itself, the word "disk" was used instead. This remains a valid distinction for components such as floppy drives or CD drives, in which the drive and the disk are separate and independent items. For other devices, such as hard disks and flash drives, the reading, writing and storage components are combined into an integrated whole, and can not be separated without destroying the device. In these cases, the words "disk" and "drive" are used interchangeably.

    Synonyms

    * (self-motivation) ambition, enthusiasm, get-up-and-go, motivation, self-motivation, verve * (sustained advance in the face of the enemy) attack, push * (motor that does not take fuel) engine, mechanism, motor * (trip made in a motor vehicle) ride, spin, trip * (driveway) approach, driveway * (public roadway) avenue, boulevard, road, street * desire, impetus, impulse, urge * disk drive * (golf term) * (baseball term) line drive * (cricket term)

    Antonyms

    * (self-motivation) inertia, lack of motivation, laziness, phlegm, sloth

    Derived terms

    * bridge drive * disk drive * blood drive * food drive * drive-whist * flash drive * floppy drive * four-wheel drive * hard drive * hyperdrive * toy drive * jump drive * left-hand drive * overdrive * right-hand drive * sex drive * warp drive * whist drive

    Derived terms

    * drift * drive out * driver * driverside * driven * driven to distraction * drive Irish tandem * drunk driving * jump drive * piledriver * screwdriver -->

    mean

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To intend.
  • # (label) To intend, to plan (to do); to have as one's intention.
  • # (label) To have intentions of a given kind.
  • #
  • To convey meaning.
  • # (label) To convey (a given sense); to signify, or indicate (an object or idea).
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
  • , page=5 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) , title= A better waterworks , passage=An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.}}
  • # (label) Of a word, symbol etc: to have reference to, to signify.
  • #*
  • A term should be included if it's likely that someone would run across it and want to know what it means'. This in turn leads to the somewhat more formal guideline of including a term if it is '''attested''' and ' idiomatic .
  • (label) To have conviction in (something said or expressed); to be sincere in (what one says).
  • (label) To result in; to bring about.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 19, author=Paul fletcher, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Blackpool 1-2 West Ham , passage=It was a goal that meant West Ham won on their first appearance at Wembley in 31 years, in doing so becoming the first team since Leicester in 1996 to bounce straight back to the Premier League through the play-offs.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-14, volume=411, issue=8891, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= It's a gas , passage=One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains.
  • (label) To be important (to).
  • Synonyms
    * (convey, signify, indicate ): convey, indicate, signify * (want or intend to convey ): imply, mean to say * (intend; plan on doing ): intend * (have conviction in what one says ): be serious * (have intentions of a some kind ): * (result in; bring about ): bring about, cause, lead to, result in

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), (m), from (etyl) ((etyl) (m)).

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (obsolete) Common; general.
  • Of a common or low origin, grade, or quality; common; humble.
  • Low in quality or degree; inferior; poor; shabby.
  • Without dignity of mind; destitute of honour; low-minded; spiritless; base.
  • a mean motive
  • * Dryden
  • Can you imagine I so mean could prove, / To save my life by changing of my love?
  • Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable.
  • * J. Philips
  • The Roman legions and great Caesar found / Our fathers no mean foes.
  • Niggardly; penurious; miserly; stingy.
  • Disobliging; pettily offensive or unaccommodating; small.
  • Selfish; acting without consideration of others; unkind.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=20 citation , passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.}}
  • Causing or intending to cause intentional harm; bearing ill will towards another; cruel; malicious.
  • Powerful; fierce; harsh; damaging.
  • Accomplished with great skill; deft; hard to compete with.
  • (informal, often, childish) Difficult, tricky.
  • Synonyms
    * (causing or intending to cause intentional harm ): cruel, malicious, nasty, spiteful * See also * (acting without consideration of others ): selfish, unkind, vile, ignoble * (powerful ): damaging, fierce, harsh, strong * (accomplished with great skill; deft; hard to compete with''): deft, skilful (''UK''), skillful (''US ), top-notch * (inferior''): cheap, grotty (slang), inferior, low-quality, naff (''UK slang ), rough and ready, shoddy, tacky (informal)
    Derived terms
    * meandom * meanie * meanness * meany

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) (m) ((etyl) (m)), . Cognate with (m).

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Having the mean (see noun below ) as its value.
  • (obsolete) Middling; intermediate; moderately good, tolerable.
  • *, II.ii.2:
  • I have declared in the causes what harm costiveness hath done in procuring this disease; if it be so noxious, the opposite must needs be good, or mean at least, as indeed it is […].
  • * Sir Philip Sidney
  • being of middle age and a mean stature
  • * Milton
  • according to the fittest style of lofty, mean , or lowly
    Derived terms
    * mean distance * mean time * mean solar time * mean sun

    Noun

    (wikipedia mean) (en noun)
  • * 1603 , John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays , II.5:
  • To say truth, it is a meane full of uncertainty and danger.
  • * Coleridge
  • You may be able, by this mean , to review your own scientific acquirements.
  • * Sir W. Hamilton
  • Philosophical doubt is not an end, but a mean .
  • * 2011 , "Rival visions", The Economist , 14 Apr 2011:
  • Mr Obama produced an only slightly less ambitious goal for deficit reduction than the House Republicans, albeit working from a more forgiving baseline: $4 trillion over 12 years compared to $4.4 trillion over 10 years. But the means by which he would achieve it are very different.
  • (obsolete, in the singular) An intermediate step or intermediate steps.
  • * a.'' 1563 , Thomas Harding, "To the Reader", in ''The Works of John Jewel (1845 ed.)
  • Verily in this treatise this hath been mine only purpose; and the mean to bring the same to effect hath been such as whereby I studied to profit wholesomely, not to please delicately.
  • * 1606 , The Trials of Robert Winter, Thomas Winter, Guy Fawkes, John Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, Rob. Keyes, Thomas Bates, and Sir Everard Digby, at Westminster, for High Treason, being Conspirators in the Gunpowder-Plot
  • That it was lawful and meritorious to kill and destroy the king, and all the said hereticks. — The mean to effect it, they concluded to be, that, 1. The king, the queen, the prince, the lords spiritual and temporal, the knights and burgoses of the parliament, should be blown up with powder. 2. That the whole royal issue male should be destroyed. S. That they would lake into their custody Elizabeth and Mary the king's daughters, and proclaim the lady Elizabeth queen. 4. That they should feign a Proclamation in the name of Elizabeth, in which no mention should be made of alteration of religion, nor that they were parties to the treason, until they had raised power to perform the same; and then to proclaim, all grievances in the kingdom should be reformed.
  • * a.'' 1623 ,
  • Apply desperate physic: / We must not now use balsamum, but fire, / The smarting cupping-glass, for that's the mean / To purge infected blood, such blood as hers.
  • Something which is intermediate or in the middle; an intermediate value or range of values; a medium.
  • *
  • *
  • * 1875 , William Smith and Samuel Cheetham, editors, A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities'', , volume 1, page 10, s.v. ''Accentus Ecclesiasticus ,
  • It presents a sort of mean between speech and song, continually inclining towards the latter, never altogether leaving its hold on the former; it is speech, though always attuned speech, in passages of average interest and importance; it is song, though always distinct and articulate song, in passages demanding more fervid utterance.
  • * 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, p. 147:
  • Of these [rattles] they have Base, Tenor, Countertenor, Meane , and Treble.
  • (statistics) The average of a set of values, calculated by summing them together and dividing by the number of terms; the arithmetic mean.
  • (mathematics) Any function of multiple variables that satisfies certain properties and yields a number representative of its arguments; or, the number so yielded; a measure of central tendency.
  • * 1997 , Angus Deaton, The Analysis of Household Surveys: A Microeconometric Approach to Development Policy , ] World Bank Publications, ISBN 9780801852541, [http://books.google.com/books?id=5Lp_p6bLD2IC&pg=PA51&dq=mean page 51:
  • Note that (1.41) is simply the probability-weighted mean without any explicit allowance for the stratification; each observation is weighted by its inflation factor and the total divided by the total of the inflation factors for the survey.
  • * 2002 , Clifford A. Pickover, The Mathematics of Oz: Mental Gymnastics from Beyond the Edge , Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521016780, page 246:
  • Luckily, even though the arithmetic mean' is unusable, both the harmonic and geometric ' means settle to precise values as the amount of data increases.
  • * 2003 , P. S. Bullen, Handbook of Means and Their Inequalities , Springer, ISBN 978-1-4020-1522-9, page 251:
  • The generalized power means' include power '''means''', certain Gini '''means''', in particular the counter-harmonic ' means .
  • (mathematics) Either of the two numbers in the middle of a conventionally presented proportion, as 2'' and ''3'' in ''1:2=3:6 .
  • * 1825 , John Farrar, translator, An Elementary Treatise on Arithmetic by Silvestre François Lacroix, third edition, page 102,
  • ...if four numbers be in proportion, the product of the first and last, or of the two extremes, is equal to the product of the second and third, or of the two means .
  • * 1999 , Dawn B. Sova, How to Solve Word Problems in Geometry , McGraw-Hill, ISBN 007134652X, page 85,
  • Using the means'-extremes property of proportions, you know that the product of the extremes equals the product of the '''means'''. The ratio ''t''/4 = 5/2 can be rewritten as ''t'':4 = 5:2, in which the extremes are ''t'' and 2, and the ' means are 4 and 5.
  • * 2007 , Carolyn C. Wheater, Homework Helpers: Geometry , Career Press, ISBN 1564147215, page 99,
  • In \frac{18}{27}=\frac23, the product of the means is 2\cdot27, and the product of the extremes is 18\cdot3. Both products are 54.
    Hypernyms
    * (statistics) measure of central tendency, measure of location, sample statistic
    Coordinate terms
    * (statistics) median, mode
    See also
    * (statistics) spread, range
    Derived terms
    * arithmetic mean * * Chisini mean * contraharmonic mean * generalised f -mean * generalized f -mean * geometric mean * harmonic mean * Heronian mean * * logarithmic mean * power mean * quadratic mean * quasi-arithmetic mean * root mean square

    Etymology 4

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) ; see (l).

    Verb

  • To complain, lament.
  • To pity; to comfort.
  • * 1485 , Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur , Book XII:
  • Anone he meaned hym, and wolde have had hym home unto his ermytage.

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * (l), (l), (l), (l), (l), (l), (l), (l) English irregular verbs English terms with multiple etymologies 1000 English basic words ----