Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DRIVE, v.i.

1. To be forced along; to be impelled; to be moved by any physical force or agent; as, a ship drives before the wind.
2. To rush and press with violence; as, a storm drives against the house. Fierce Boreas drove against his flying sails. – Dryden.
3. To pass in a carriage; as, he drove to London. This phrase is elliptical. He drove his horses or carriage to London.
4. To aim at or tend to; to urge toward a point; to make an effort to reach or obtain; as, we know the end the author is driving at.
5. To aim a blow; to strike at with force. Four rogues in buckram let drive at me. – Shak. Drive, in all its senses, implies forcible or violent action. It is opposed to lead. To drive a body is to move it by applying a force behind; to lead is to cause to move by applying the force before, or forward of the body.