Drove , n. [AS. drāf, fr. drīfan to drive. See Drive.]

1.A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body.

2. Any collection of irrational animals, moving or driving forward; as, a finny drove.Milton.

3. A crowd of people in motion.

Where droves, as at a city gate, may pass. Dryden.

4. A road for driving cattle; a driftway. [Eng.]

5. (Agric.) A narrow drain or channel used in the irrigation of land. Simmonds.

6. (Masonry) (a) A broad chisel used to bring stone to a nearly smooth surface; -- called also drove chisel. (b) The grooved surface of stone finished by the drove chisel; -- called also drove work.

Drove (?), v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Droved (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Droving (?).] [Cf. Drove, n., and Drover.]

1. To drive, as cattle or sheep, esp. on long journeys; to follow the occupation of a drover.

"Hes droving now with Conroys sheep along the Castlereagh." Paterson.

2. To finish, as stone, with a drove or drove chisel.

Drove (?), imp. of Drive.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913