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drive-in

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

Providing service to patrons who remain in their automobiles and partake while parked.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dryvin

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdɹaɪvɪn

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. USof an establishment

    Providing service to patrons who remain in their automobiles and partake while parked.

  2. philippines

    Motel; motor inn

noun

  1. USCanadaAustralia

    An outdoor cinema where movies are projected onto a large screen and patrons watch from inside their vehicles, listening either by a speaker or a designated radio frequency.

  2. uscanada

    A drive-through restaurant where patrons remain in their vehicles and order food and beverages via a speaker phone; the meal is delivered by a service window accessible by car.

  3. USCanada

    Any installation designed to accommodate patrons in their automobiles

  4. uscanada

    A restaurant where patrons remain in their vehicles to consume their meals; the meal may be ordered and delivered to one's vehicle by a carhop waiter; or may require patrons to use a service counter. The cars in the parking lot serve as the patrons' dining room, there being a lack of dining rooms and tables.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Typical Use
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (US, of an establishment) Providing service to patrons who remain in their automobiles and partake while parked.

Used this way, drive-in is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.