Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
drive-through \drive-through\ a. arranged to allow business to be transacted or sights to be seen while patrons remain in their vehicles; as, a drive-through car wash; a drive-through safari park.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
a. 1 Of an establishment, providing service to occupants of automobiles while still in their still-running vehicle. 2 Of a feature of such an establishment (especially a window), adapted to provide such service. alt. 1 Of an establishment, providing service to occupants of automobiles while still in their still-running vehicle. 2 Of a feature of such an establishment (especially a window), adapted to provide such service. n. 1 An establishment, especially a restaurant, providing drive-through service. 2 The window of such an establishment adapted for such purpose.
Wikipedia
A drive-through, or drive-thru, is a type of service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was pioneered in the United States in the 1930s by Jordan Martin, but has since spread to other countries. The first recorded use of a bank using a drive-up window teller was the Grand National Bank of St. Louis, Missouri in 1930. The drive-up teller allowed only deposits at that time.
Orders are generally placed using a microphone and picked up in person at the window. A drive-through is different from a drive-in in several ways - the cars create a line and move in one direction in drive-throughs, and normally do not park, whereas drive-ins allow cars to park next to each other, the food is generally brought to the window by a server, called a carhop, and the customer can remain in the parked car to eat. However, during peak periods, to keep the queue down and avoid traffic-flow problems, drive-throughs occasionally switch to an "order at the window, then park in a designated space" model where the customer will receive their food from an attendant when it is ready to be served. This results in a perceived relationship between the two service models.
Drive-throughs have generally replaced drive-ins in popular culture, and are now found in the vast majority of modern American fast-food chains. Sometimes, a store with a drive-through is referred to as a "drive-through," or the term is attached to the service, such as, "drive-through restaurant," or "drive-through bank."
Drive-throughs typically have signs over the drive-through lanes to show customers which lanes are open for business. The types of signage used is usually illuminated so the "open" message can be changed to a "closed" message when the lane is not available.
Usage examples of "drive-through".
And then, approaching the gridlock at Coldwater again via the drive-through lane of the Marcos Whiplash Clinic, I saw in the fluorescent blue haze blanketing the intersection a vision from Hell itself: out of the sea of traffic a red intake port began to surface, snout-like, lupine.
At the espresso drive-through known as The Westside Buzz, the barista had recognized Barry.
Drifting by in the darkness I can see the rotting hulks of sixties tower blocks, endless railway yards, forecourts crammed with second-hand cars, and then a track for dog racing, pubs, drive-through burger bars, Chinese and Indian restaurants, more pubs, ratty strings of shops, estates that seem to go on and on for ever.
Gulf station on the left, Eastgate Shopping Center on the right, the usual fast-food drive-through restaurants like Wendy's, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken all recently built along this strip in the early 1970's.
On my way to the nursing home, I made a detour by the drive-through window at McDonald's, where I picked up a sack of burgers, two Cokes, and two large orders of french fries.
Jasmine wanted some and I had prioritised getting to the record company office for a Rolling Stone photo session above finding the nearest drive-through car wash and parking in it while Jas climbed into the back with me and took off her uniform.
And I knew the night guard goes on a drive-through check at two in the morning and the route he takes.