Word.ws English Dictionary

drive-by download

drive-by download noun: a download triggered by scripts, etc., on a website, without prompting the user, usually for malicious purposes.

Noun

drive-by download (plural drive-by downloads)

  1. (Internet, computer security) A download triggered by scripts, etc., on a website, without prompting the user, usually for malicious purposes.

Forms of drive-by download

pluraldrive-by downloads

Origin of drive-by download

By analogy with a drive by shooting.

Questions about drive-by download

What does drive-by download mean?
Drive-by download means a download triggered by scripts, etc., on a website, without prompting the user, usually for malicious purposes.
What part of speech is drive-by download?
Drive-by download is a noun.
What is the plural of drive-by download?
The plural of drive-by download is drive-by downloads.

Words near drive-by download in the dictionary

  1. drive units
  2. drive up
  3. drive wheel
  4. drive wheels
  5. drive-by
  6. drive-by download
  7. drive-by downloads
  8. drive-by media
  9. drive-by-wire
  10. drive-bys
  11. drive-in

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: drive-by download (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “drive-by download.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/drive-by_download. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.