Meanings
- not comparablerareRare form of drive-through.
I’m a clerk so I also cashier at the drivethrough window.
2001, Norma E. Cantú, “Getting There Cuando No Hay Camino”, in The Latina Feminist Group, Telling to Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios (Latin America Otherwise: Languages, Empires, Nations), Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, →ISBN, part I (Genealogies of Empowerment), page 632 more examples
Today, speed is the key factor; it’s the reason most of the fast-food chains have gotten even faster by offering drivethrough service. […] Retailers should offer additional services such as takeout, drivethrough windows, home and office delivery and gift wrapping.
1990, Joe Cappo, “The Challenge of Predicting American Taste”, in FutureScope: Success Strategies for the 1990s & Beyond, [Chicago, Ill.]: Longman Financial Services Publishing, →ISBN, part 3 (The American Market: A Moving Target), pages 157 and 159Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque, New Mexico ordered a cup of coffee at the drivethrough window of McDonald’s one day in February, 1992. […] Choose one of the following scenes. Write a dialog. Then, practice it. At the Drivethrough Window (McDonald’s story only)
2000, Michelle Buehring, “Cases of Coffee and Candy”, in Joan Ashkenas, editor, The Talking Edge: Co-operActivities in Easy Communication, Studio City, Calif.: JAG Publications, →ISBN, pages 33 and 37
plural drivethroughs
- rareRare form of drive-through.
Fast or convenience food includes takeaways, drivethroughs, casual dining, delis, and preprepared supermarket meals (Hollingsworth 2001c).
2003, Robert J. Donovan, Nadine Henley, “Food for thought”, in Social Marketing: Principles and Practice, Melbourne, Vic.: IP Communications, →ISBN, chapter 3 (Social Marketing and the Environment), page 422 more examples
The CVRP can, for example, be used to: […] survey and decipher how the aesthetics and design of car-based environments both cater to and/or regulate automobilities (gas stations, motels, rest stops, drivethroughs, roads, billboards, official and vernacular signs, landscaping); […]
2013, André Amtoft, Bettina Camilla Vestergaard, “All Aboard! Exploring the Role of the Vehicle in Contemporary Spatial Inquiry”, in Susanne Witzgall, Gerlinde Vogl, Sven Kesselring, editors, New Mobilities Regimes in Art and Social Sciences, Farnham, Surrey; Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN, “Camp Politics” section, page 241[Y]ou don’t see a lot of people walking around. Everyone drives. Everything is built and planned for car owners. There is a huge number of drivethroughs. Even Starbucks is a drivethrough.
2014 April, Yelena Parker, “When in Rome…”, in Moving Without Shaking: The Guide to Expat Life Success (from Women to Women), Horsham, West Sussex: Moving Without Shaking Ltd, →ISBN, chapter 5 (Cultural Adaptation), page 97
Cite this entry
drivethrough. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drivethrough
“drivethrough.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drivethrough. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “drivethrough,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drivethrough.
Source: drivethrough on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.