▪ I. driving, vbl. n.
(ˈdraɪvɪŋ)
[-ing1.]
1. The action of drive vb. (q.v.), in various senses.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 132/2 Dryvynge, or cathchynge [v.r. chasinge], minatus. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 461 In tyme of dryuynge..of whiche bargayne. 1549 Latimer 4th Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 110 Wythout any delayes, or dryuynge of. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Dechassement, a driuing away. 1611 Bible 2 Kings ix. 20 The driuing is like the driuing of Iehu the sonne of Nimshi; for he driueth furiously. 1765 Sterne Tr. Shandy VII. xvii. (R.), All within three minutes driving. 1884 Graphic 20 Sept. 290/2 At private schools of a higher class the driving is even worse. |
2. concr. That which is driven: see
drive v. 8 d.
| 1696 Tryon Misc. ii. 61 Many Feathers..are Imported from several Countries, which are the Drivings of old Beds. |
3. attrib. and
Comb. (Several of the combinations may also be regarded as belonging to the
ppl. adj.)
a. Relating to, adapted for, or devoted to driving in a carriage, motor vehicle, etc.
| 1788 A. Hughes Henry & Isabella I. 77 Moving slowly round the driving way. 1794 W. Felton Carriages (1801) Gloss., Driving Cushion, a deep cushion, made..for the driver to sit on. 1858 C. M. Yonge Christmas Mummers i. 11 Harry Mayne was perched on the driving-seat. 1882 L. C. Lillie Prudence 95 To make her driving toilet. 1882 G. W. Peck Peck's Sunshine 24 If he don't put on an old driving coat and go out on the road occasionally. 1887 Daily News 16 May 2/6 The institution of the two four-in-hand driving clubs. 1891 Pall Mall G. 11 July 6/1 Beautiful driving weather. 1895 Daily News 5 July 5/3 The driving meet in Hyde Park. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 518/1 Men's river or driving shoes. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 228/1 Light weight driving gloves. 1911 Madame 20 May 318/2 No one who has not lived in the canton for three months shall be allowed a driving licence. 1926 Amer. Speech I. 686/1 American..rear view mirror. English..driving mirror. 1932 Kipling Limits & Renewals 135 Phil, alone in the car..shifted into the driving-seat. 1933 Punch 13 Dec. 662/1 Reasonable plea for a driving-test was put forward by Lord Howe. 1936 Times 10 Jan. 12/2 His waistcoat, containing his savings and his driving licence. 1961 Evening Standard 14 July 19/2 (Advt.), Driving Instructor reqd..Motor School. 1962 N. Marsh Hand in Glove vi. 199, I mean his driving gloves. They're heavy leather ones with string backs. 1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive xxiv. 224, I slid the driving-seat back a notch. 1966 B. Kimenye Kalasanda Revisited 98 As soon as they were alone, she asked if she could take driving lessons. 1966 T. Wisdom High-Performance Driving xvi. 136 The driving test..in my mind is not a real driving test at all. It is just a traffic test. Ibid., The driving-school customer is interested only in passing the test. 1968 Autocar 18 Apr. 26/1 Driving simulators are still a novelty. 1969 V. Canning Queen's Pawn ii. 8 There was a pair of comfortable women's driving shoes down by the control pedals. |
b. In names of various mechanical contrivances used for driving (see
quots., and various senses of
drive v.), as
driving-block,
driving-bolt,
driving-cap,
driving-chisel,
driving-pike;
esp. of parts of machinery which communicate motion to other parts, as
driving-axle,
driving-belt,
driving-gear,
driving-pulley,
driving-shaft; or of parts in connexion with these, as
driving-spring; also
driving-band, (
a) a band transmitting motion in machinery; (
b) (see
quot. 1893);
driving-iron,
-putter, two clubs used in golf, the former to give great elevation to the ball, the latter to drive a very low ball against a heavy wind;
driving-stick, a stick with which cattle, etc., are driven. See also
driving-box, -wheel.
| 1849–50 Weale Dict. Terms, Driving springs, the springs fixed upon the boxes of the *driving axle of a locomotive engine, to support the weight and to deaden the shocks caused by irregularities in the rails. |
| 1862 Jrnl. Soc. Arts X. 327/2 *Driving-bands..are now made largely in india-rubber. 1886 F. C. Morgan Handbk. Artillery Matériel (ed. 3) vi. 56 The driving band in the newest pattern of shells is made broader, and has cannelures round it. 1893 Lloyd & Hadcock Artillery ix. 230 Driving bands. All projectiles, except case shot, are fitted with a band of soft metal, which is cut into by the rifling of the gun, and thus forms the medium for translating the rotatory motion to the projectile. Ibid. 231 ‘Cannelures’ are cut in the driving band to make room for the copper which is displaced by the rifling when the projectile is fired. 1916 ‘Boyd Cable’ Doing their Bit v. 70 One girl..is turning the copper driving bands. |
| 1885 Law Rep. 15 Q. Bench Div. 358 Leathern *driving-belts were used in working the machinery at the factory. |
| 1849 Alb. Smith Pottleton Leg. 80 The ‘monkey’ was the large *driving-block that falls upon a pile-head. |
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Repoussoir, a *driving-bolt, used by shipwrights to knock out some other bolt from its station. |
| 1890 *Driving iron [see iron n.1 4 e]. |
| 1877 Lumberman's Gaz. 8 Dec. 362 Each man..carries a ‘*driving pike’ or heavy pole some eight feet long. |
| 1857 Chambers' Inform. II. 693/2 The *driving-putter is shorter in the shank than the play-club..The driving-putter sends ‘skimming’ balls, and so ‘cheats the wind’. |
| 1869 J. G. Fuller Flower-Gatherers 147 He took Jack's long *driving-stick. 1926 D. H. Lawrence David xii. 88, I plant this driving-stick in the soft earth. |
▸
driving range n. Golf a facility at which golfers can practise drives.
| 1929 Los Angeles Times 17 Apr. iii. 3/2 The Sunset Fields public golf course company has about decided to install a *driving range on its property. 1998 Today's Golfer May 144/1 So many golfers go to their nearest driving range with a handful of clubs, plonk themselves in a free bay and smack the hell out of golf balls for an hour or so. |
▸
driving school n. an institution providing instruction for those learning to drive vehicles (now
esp. motor vehicles).
| 1833 Times 23 Mar. 1/6 (advt.) A pair of black Welch ponies..to be seen at Mr Humphry's riding and *driving school. 1901 Outing Feb. 620/1 Questions pertaining to automobile repair shops..and driving schools. 1995 J. Miller & M. Stacey Driving Instructor's Handbk. xi. 328 Most driving instructors work for themselves, in isolation from the rest of the profession, operating one-car driving schools. |
▸
driving while black n. (also
occas. driving while brown) ironically, as alteration of the phrase
driving while intoxicated; compare
DWI n. at
D n. Additions
colloq. (chiefly
U.S.,
orig. in African-American usage) the operation of a motor vehicle by a member of a racial or ethnic minority,
esp. an African-American, facetiously regarded as an offence, because of a level of scrutiny of African-American drivers by police considered to be discriminatorily high;
cf. racial profiling n. at
racial adj. and
n. Compounds and
DWB n. at
D n. Additions.
| 1990 N.Y. Times 21 May b4/1 We get arrested for D.W.B... You know, *driving while black. 1996 Sports Illustr. 10 June 69/2 As the white policeman kept asking questions that night, he began to feel he was being stopped for the infraction referred to by some African-Americans as DWB—Driving While Black. 1999 Guardian 4 June i. 15/1 Systematic racial discrimination, exemplified by arrest for DWB—driving while black or brown—is one of the main tools in the US war on drugs. 2002 Barron's 18 Mar. 43/2 Creating a national ID-card system would mean that many people now unjustly subjected to discrimination and harassment—people ‘driving while black’, or ‘flying while Arab’—would be empowered with a quick and easy means of giving a good account of themselves. |
▪ II. ˈdriving, ppl. a. [-ing2.] That drives.
1. a. Impelling, setting in motion, actuating.
driving force or
driving power, the force or power by which an engine or vehicle is driven; motor force or power;
freq. fig. (The
phr. driving wind, etc. may belong to sense 2.)
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 20 Heo..wende uorþ with god wynd & wel dryuyng flode. 1687 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 403 So great a driving wind. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Times Wks. (Bohn) II. 116 The ability of its journals is the driving force. a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 948/2 The great weight of this wheel is..to carry the machine over the one half of its period in which the driving-power is absent. 1895 Ch. Q. Rev. Oct. 156 Doubt as the driving energy of active inquiry. 1905 Sketch 26 July 38/1 The driving power [sc. of a dirigible balloon] is supplied by two 50 horse-power Bucket motors. 1909 F. Harris The Man Shakespeare 369, I always think of him as a ship over-engined; when the driving-power is working at full speed it shakes the ship to pieces. 1911 ‘I. Hay’ Safety Match i. 14 Brian Vereker would make a noble figurehead..but..the figurehead would require a good deal of imported driving-power behind it. 1927 M. Pupin New Reformation 214 A cosmic stream of solar energy from which everything that lives and breathes on this terrestrial globe derives its driving-force, just as the mill on the mountain side derives its driving-power from the mountain stream. 1931 J. S. Huxley What dare I Think? vii. 246 The religious driving-force of a great many intelligent people is going to waste. 1965 New Statesman 30 Apr. 691/2 Hofmeyr was not only often acting prime minister but almost always the main driving force in the administration. 1967 Condon & Odishaw Handbk. Physics (ed. 2) ii. iii. 23 For a given magnitude of driving force, resonance in the velocity amplitude occurs at minimum impedance. 1970 Times 9 Mar. 7/1 Someone persuaded the man known as the ‘Driving Force’ behind Woman's Own and Modern Woman to see me. |
b. Energetic, dynamic, forceful. (
Cf. drive n. 1 i.)
orig. and chiefly
U.S.| 1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West II. 92 They become thorough, driving planters. 1946 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets (1949) xi. 257 Mitchell's cornet playing throughout is of the utmost clarity and compressed, driving simplicity. 1952 B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz Amer. (1958) xix. 235 Lester is also a summary example of driving, vigorous tenor saxophone. |
2. Moving along rapidly,
esp. before the wind; drifting; said also of a storm, in which rain or snow drives rapidly before a strong wind.
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. ii. 11 When you..Hung on our driuing boate. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 564 Perpetual Sleet, and driving Snow. 1802 R. Brookes' Gazetteer (ed. 12) s.v. Provincetown, The houses are..set upon piles, that the driving sands may pass under them. 1848 C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 43 The nets are set..parallel to the tide and suffered to drift with it, hence they are called ‘drift nets’, and the boats ‘driving boats’. |
† 3. driving notes (
Mus.): an old name for syncopated notes, as being ‘driven’ or prolonged through the accent.
Obs.| 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 89 The third is a driuing waie in two crotchets and a minime, but added by a rest. 1731 Keller Thorough-bass in W. Holder Harmony 189 The several driving Notes descend by degrees. 1858 Currie Elem. Mus. Anal. 101 Which..has so peculiar an effect in performance as to have sometimes procured for such notes the epithet of ‘driving notes’. |
Hence
ˈdrivingly adv., in a driving manner.
| 1842 Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) III. 163 It rained drivingly. |