drive-in
/ˈdɹaɪvˌɪn/
Frequency: 5.13 in modern English
Meaning
adj
Of an establishment, providing service to patrons who remain in their automobiles and partake while parked.
American usage
noun
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.
Australian usage; Canadian usage; American usage
noun
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.
Canadian usage; American usage
Example Sentences
- "drive-in church; drive-in funeral parlor"
- "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."
- "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."
- "At the end of June 1997, there were 325 cinema sites and 28 drive-in sites in Australia."
- "The teenagers went down to the drive-in to order some hamburgers and fries."
- "1965 May 7, Don Moser, The nightmare of life with Billy, LIFE, page 101,"
Etymology
Usage
- American usage
- Australian usage
- Canadian usage