drive-through
US/ˈdɹaɪvˌθɹu/
drive-through adjective: of an establishment, providing service to occupants of automobiles while they are in their still-running vehicle, especially when the vehicle does not park in a parking space and the goods received are not consumed until the vehicle vacates the lane.
Adjective
drive-through (not comparable)
- Of an establishment, providing service to occupants of automobiles while they are in their still-running vehicle, especially when the vehicle does not park in a parking space and the goods received are not consumed until the vehicle vacates the lane.
- I switched banks so that I could use a drive-through branch near my home.
- Of a feature of such an establishment (especially a window), adapted to provide such service.
- The restaurant’s drive-through window had a turntable of bulletproof glass designed to allow transactions while preventing robberies.
Noun
drive-through (plural drive-throughs)
- An establishment, especially a restaurant, providing drive-through service.
- Since I was pressed for time, I picked up burgers at a drive-through on the way home.
- The window of such an establishment adapted for such purpose.
- “Please pull forward and pay at the drive-through,” said the attendant upon taking my order.
Forms of drive-through
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | drive through |
| alternative Philippines US | drive-thru |
| alternative form | drive thru |
| alternative form | drivethru |
| alternative form (rare) | drivethrough |
| Noun | |
| plural | drive-throughs |
Origin of drive-through
Deverbal from drive through.
Words formed from drive-through
Phrases with drive-through
Questions about drive-through
- What does drive-through mean?
- Drive-through means of an establishment, providing service to occupants of automobiles while they are in their still-running vehicle, especially when the vehicle does not park in a parking space and the goods received are not consumed until the vehicle vacates the lane.
- What part of speech is drive-through?
- Drive-through can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce drive-through?
- Drive-through is pronounced /ˈdɹaɪvˌθɹu/ (US).
Words near drive-through in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: drive-through (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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “drive-through.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/drive-through. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.