English Explanatory Dictionary

bedrive

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To drive or toss about; drive out, off, back, or away; defeat.
  2. To effect; do; commit; perpetrate; experience.

Word forms

bedrive bedrives bedriving bedrove bedriven

Etymology

From Middle English bidriven, from Old English bedrīfan (“to drive; beat; strike; assail; follow up; pursue; surround; cover”), from Proto-West Germanic *bidrīban, equivalent to be- + drive. Cognate with Dutch bedrijven (“to commit, perpetrate”), German betreiben (“to operate, conduct, pursue”), Swedish bedriva (“to manage, carry on, prosecute”).

Related words

bedrift
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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