fordrive

F4O1R1D2R1I1V4E1

verb

To drive away; expel.

OriginMiddle English fordriven ← Old English fordrīfan ← Proto-West Germanic *fradrīban →
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Meanings

verbfordrive (third-person singular simple present fordrives, present participle fordriving, simple past fordrove, past participle fordriven)

present singular third person fordrives · participle present fordriving · past fordrove · participle past fordriven

  1. UKdialectaltransitiveTo drive away; expel.
  2. UKdialectaltransitiveTo drive about; drive here and there; drive astray.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
expel

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*fradrībaną“to drive away, drive out, expel”
  2. Proto-West Germanic*fradrīban
  3. Old Englishfordrīfan“to drive, sweep away, drive on, impel, compel, drive away, expel, overtax”
  4. Middle Englishfordriven
  5. Englishfordrive

From Middle English fordriven, from Old English fordrīfan (“to drive, sweep away, drive on, impel, compel, drive away, expel, overtax”), from Proto-West Germanic *fradrīban, from Proto-Germanic *fradrībaną (“to drive away, drive out, expel”), equivalent to for- + drive. Cognate with West Frisian fordriuwe, ferdriuwe (“to expel”), Dutch verdrijven (“to expel”), German Low German verdrieven (“to drive away”), German vertreiben (“to expel, drive out, banish”), Danish fordrive (“to oust, expel”), Swedish fördriva (“to drive away, drive out, banish”).

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

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Fervidor
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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