drive-through

drive-through — noun

1. a service point that people drive up to — for example at a fast-food chain, coff

1.nounB1
Definition

a service point that people drive up to — for example at a fast-food chain, coffee shop, pharmacy, or bank — in order to collect what they need without leaving the car.

Example

Soraya picked up burgers from a drive-through on her way home from work.

collocation: pick up [food] from a drive-through

The pharmacy's drive-through stays open until midnight for urgent prescriptions.

drive-through + opening hours

Common collocations
  • use a drive-through
  • go through a drive-through
  • the drive-through line/queue
  • drive-through window
  • drive-through lane
  • fast-food drive-through
  • coffee drive-through
Synonyms
  • drive-up

    almost identical; preferred for banks and ATMs

  • take-out window

    emphasises the window itself rather than the whole service lane

  • service lane

    more technical; used for pharmacies and banks

Antonyms
  • dine-in

    eating inside the restaurant

  • walk-in

    entering the building on foot

Grammar Patterns

at a drive-through

through a drive-through

the + drive-through + of [place]

Usage Note

Common in North America; less usual in dense European or Asian city centres where space is limited. The spelling drive-thru is widely used on signs and in informal writing.

Common Mistakes

I ordered a drive-through from McDonald's.
I ordered food from the drive-through at McDonald's.
drive-through is the place or service, not the food itself.
There is a drive-through restaurant on the highway.
There is a restaurant with a drive-through on the highway.
natural usage treats drive-through as a service feature of an establishment.

drive-through — adjective

Word family

  • drive-thru
    nounB2
  • drive-thru
    adjectiveB2
  • drive-up
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Drive-through and drive-up are nearly interchangeable, but drive-up is more common for banks and ATMs (e.g., 'drive-up ATM'), while drive-through dominates for food and pharmacy. Take-out window focuses on the physical opening where food is handed out and is less common as a noun for the whole service lane. Service lane is a more general, slightly technical term used for pharmacy or bank setups ('the pharmacy service lane'). In everyday speech, drive-through is by far the most frequent choice: 'I'll hit the drive-through on my way home' sounds natural, whereas 'I'll hit the service lane' does not.

drive-through ↗drive-uptake-out windowservice lane

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • go through the drive-through
  • use a drive-through
  • pull up to the drive-through window
  • wait in the drive-through line

Prepositions

  • through a drive-through
  • at a drive-through
  • in the drive-through line

Etymology

English (phrasal verb)American English (compound noun/adjective)

Formed from the verb phrase 'drive through' (to drive into and out of a service area). The earliest recorded drive-through in the United States was a bank in 1928. The shortened spelling 'drive-thru' appeared on signs and advertisements by the mid-20th century and is now standard for many fast-food chains.