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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

drive-in en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • (Australia) audio
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈdɹaɪvˌɪn/

Etymology

Deverbal from drive in.

Meanings

  1. (US, not-comparable) Of an establishment, providing service to patrons who remain in their automobiles and partake while parked.
    • drive-in church; drive-in funeral parlor
  2. (Philippines, not-comparable) A motel; a motor inn.

Coordinates

drive-through

Deriveds

drive-in movie · drive-in theatre

Translations (3)

fi drive-in- (providing service to patrons in their automobiles) · fr au volant (providing service to patrons in their automobiles) · pl zmotoryzowany (providing service to patrons in their automobiles)

drive-in en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Australia) audio
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈdɹaɪvˌɪn/

Etymology

Deverbal from drive in.

Meanings

  1. (Australia, Canada, US) 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.
    • At the end of June 1997, there were 325 cinema sites and 28 drive-in sites in Australia. 2000, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2000 Year Book Australia, page 346:
    • This fact may seem surprising since the major movie studios, reluctant to risk cheapening their images by releasing first-run films to drive-ins, made only older movies affordable to drive-in operators. 2000, Mary Alampi, Dun & Bradstreet/Gale Group Industry Handbook, page 26:
    • Owners and sponsors of the drive-ins feel that in three-quarters of their patrons they have tapped a practically prehistoric strain of human—the hitherto non-movie-goer. 1975, David Manning White, Popular Culture, page 154:
  2. (Canada, US) 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.
    • 1965 May 7, Don Moser, The nightmare of life with Billy, LIFE, page 101,
    • The teenagers went down to the drive-in to order some hamburgers and fries.
  3. (Canada, US) 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.
    • Even before franchising genius Ray A. Kroc approached Mac and Dick McDonald to become the licensing agent for their small San Bernardino (Calif.) restaurant, scores of drive-in operators had begun copying McDonald′s speedy burger-fries-and-shake menus. Love contends that Kroc′s success came largely from his commitment to automating the preparation of drive-in meals. 1986, Business Week, numbers 2967-2978, page 136:
    • For during the fabled Indiana blizzard of ′78, Tom found himself trapped inside the kitchen of the drive-in for three days before his family, and—more to the point—his customers, could reach him. 2006, Reid Duffy, Reid Duffy's Guide to Indiana's Favorite Restaurants: With a Recipe Sampler, page 135:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
drive-ins Number=Plur lexicographic

Descendants

drive-in · ドライブイン

Relateds

car hop

Synonyms

drive-in restaurant · drive-in cinema · drive-in movie · drive-in theatre

Translations (25)

fr drive-in (outdoor cinema) · is bílabíó (outdoor cinema) · eo envetura kinejo (outdoor cinema) · pl kino samochodowe (outdoor cinema) · hu autósmozi (outdoor cinema) · fi drive-in-elokuvateatteri (outdoor cinema) · ja ドライブインシアター (outdoor cinema) · fi autoravintola (drive-in restaurant) · pt drive-in (outdoor cinema) · it autocinema (outdoor cinema) · es autocinema (outdoor cinema) · de Autokino (outdoor cinema) · pl drive-in (outdoor cinema) · cmn 得來速 /得来速 (outdoor cinema) · fr ciné-parc (outdoor cinema) · ja ドライブイン (outdoor cinema) · pl restauracja samochodowa (drive-in restaurant) · es autocine (outdoor cinema) · fi drive-in-ravintola (drive-in restaurant) · ru драйв-и́н (outdoor cinema) · it autocine (outdoor cinema) · ru автокинотеа́тр (outdoor cinema) · it drive-in (outdoor cinema) · it cineparcheggio (outdoor cinema) · it cineparco (outdoor cinema)