dreave

D2R1E1A1V4E1

verb

To drive; drive out; drive away; expel.

OriginMiddle English dreven ← Old English drǣfan ← Proto-Germanic *draibijaną →
Scrabble 10
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

dreave1

verbdreave (third-person singular simple present dreaves, present participle dreaving, simple past and past participle dreft or dreaved)

present singular third person dreaves · participle present dreaving · participle past dreft · past dreft · participle past dreaved · past dreaved · alternative dreve

  1. UKdialectaltransitiveTo drive; drive out; drive away; expel.

dreave2

noundreave (plural dreaves)

plural dreaves · alternative drave · alternative draif · alternative dreef

  1. UKdialectalA drove.
  2. UKdialectalA crowd or throng of people.
  3. ScotlandUKdialectalThe yearly herring fishing.
  4. ScotlandUKdialectalA shoal of fish; a catch.

Origin

dreave · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰreybʰ-“to drive, push”
  2. Proto-Germanic*draibijaną“to cause to drive”
  3. Old Englishdrǣfan“to drive, drive out, expel”
  4. Middle Englishdreven
  5. Englishdreave

From Middle English dreven, from Old English drǣfan (“to drive, drive out, expel”), from Proto-Germanic *draibijaną (“to cause to drive”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”). Cognate with Icelandic dreifa (“to spread out, disperse”). More at drive.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

dreave · noun

  1. Old Englishdrāf“a drove, herd”
  2. Middle Englishdraf
  3. Englishdreave

From Middle English draf, from Old English drāf (“a drove, herd”). More at drove.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

DeaverevaderDeveravereda
Cite this entry
APA

dreave. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dreave

MLA

“dreave.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dreave. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dreave,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dreave.

Source: dreave on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.