From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdrive at something phrasal verbwhat somebody is driving atSAY the thing someone is really trying to say SYN get at I still couldn’t understand what Toby was driving at. → drive→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
drive at • He was driving at a steady thirty-five.• Alarmed, and thinking that my President needed me, I dashed to get there, driving at foolhardy speed.• I don't know why I never drove at home.• When driving at night, sit in the car for a minute or two before starting off.• I knew what she was driving at: now we both had a dead parent, and both were suicides.• When driving at speed, the engineers noted that headwinds and crosswinds caused the blades to lift off the windscreen.• He let go the clutch, lifted the front wheel and drove at the far bank, sand-spit dead ahead.• Ordering a staff car, he drove at top speed through the night to Paris.what somebody is driving at• She didn't mention "sexual harassment, " but I knew what she was driving at.• Many candidates don't recognize what the question is driving at. 