withdrive

W4I1T1H4D2R1I1V4E1

verb

To drive away, repel.

OriginMiddle English *withdriven ← Old English wiþdrīfan ← Proto-West Germanic *wiþidrīban →
Scrabble 19
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbwithdrive (third-person singular simple present withdrives, present participle withdriving, simple past withdrove, past participle withdriven)

present singular third person withdrives · participle present withdriving · past withdrove · participle past withdriven

  1. nonstandardraretransitiveTo drive away, repel.

    The same [Sorell] water withdryueth impetigines.

    1527, L. Andrewe tr. H. von Braunschweig Vertuose Bk. Distyllacyon ii. ii. sig. Aij/2
    2 more examples

    […] would result in a reduction in the numbers of this vector of disease, proportionate to the thoroughness and persistence with which the procedures were carried out. Centuries ago wise men taught, that to 'withdrive' THE GREAT FAMINE.

    1976, Robert Dudley Edwards, Thomas Desmond Williams, The great famine: studies in Irish history, 1845-52

    If somebody bought sex from prostitute it is not his sex if prostitute withdrove consent? But if i withdrove consent i wont get my money back?

    2012, New rule for 2012

Origin

  1. Proto-West Germanic*wiþidrīban“to drive back”
  2. Old Englishwiþdrīfan“to repel”
  3. Middle English*withdriven
  4. Englishwithdrive

From Middle English *withdriven, from Old English wiþdrīfan (“to repel”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþidrīban (“to drive back”), equivalent to with- + drive. Cognate with Old Frisian withdrīva (“to restore”). Compare also Old High German widartrīban (“to drive back, refute”), whence archaic German widertreiben (“to drive back, prevent, thwart”).

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

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

withdrive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/withdrive

MLA

“withdrive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/withdrive. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “withdrive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/withdrive.

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