English

Alternative forms

• cattle-drive

Noun

cattle drive ‎(plural cattle drives)

1. The process of transporting a herd of bovine animals (such as bulls, cows, or steers) by compelling them to walk across a significant distance of countryside, under the escort of drovers on horseback and often over a period of days.
   • 1884, "Beef: From the Range to the Shambles," Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 69, no. 409 (June), p. 292,

     With the great annual cattle drives which start from the arid plains of the Red River and the Pecos comes the wild cowboy, with his six-shooter on his hip.

2. A trail or route used for the movement of herds of cattle.
   • 1880, Thomas Hardy, The Trumpet Major, ch. 1,

     On the other side of the mill-pond was an open place called the Cross, because it was three-quarters of one, two lanes and a cattle-drive meeting there.