drive down
B1 neutral separable both
In simple words
Drive to a place, or make prices or numbers go lower.
Literal meaning: To travel by vehicle in a downward direction or toward a destination.
Meanings
1 A2 neutral
To travel to a place by car, especially southward or to a more rural area (in British English).
"We drove down to Cornwall for the bank holiday weekend."
Grammar: inseparable
2 B1
idiomatic
neutral
To cause prices, costs, wages, or figures to fall through sustained pressure or competition.
"Increased competition between supermarkets has driven down the price of basic groceries."
Grammar: separable
Usage notes
The economic/figurative sense is very common in business and news language. Typical collocates in the figurative sense are 'prices', 'costs', 'wages', and 'rates'.
Commonly used with
prices costs wages inflation rates motorway
Forms
Base
drive down
I/you/we/they
3rd person
drives down
he/she/it
Past simple
drove down
yesterday
Past participle
driven down
have + pp
-ing form
driving down
continuous
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Synonyms
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