I.Radic. sense : to drive, drive on, set in motion, of driving flocks, Hom.; so aor. mid. ἠλασάμην Il.: often of chariots, to drive, id=Il., Hdt.; also, ἐλ. ἵππον to ride it, id=Hdt.; ἐλ. νῆα to row it, Od.:—in this sense the acc. was omitted, and the Verb became intr., to go in a chariot, to drive, μάστιξεν δ᾽ ἐλάαν (sc. ἵππους) he whipped them on, Il.; βῆ δ᾽ ἐλάαν ἐπὶ κύματα he drove on over the waves, id=Il.; διὰ νύκτα ἐλάαν to travel the night through, Od.; — to ride, Hdt., etc.; to march, id=Hdt.; to row, Od.
b.in this intr. sense, it sometimes took an acc. loci, γαλήνην ἐλαύνειν to sail the calm sea, i. e. over it, id=Hdt.; ἐλαύνειν δρόμον to run a course, Ar.
2.to drive away, like ἀπελαύνω, of stolen cattle, Hom., Xen.: —so in Mid., Hom.
3.to drive away, expel, Il., Trag.
4.to drive to extremities, ἄδην ἐλόωσι πολέμοιο will harass him till he has had enough of war, Il.; ἄδην ἐλάαν κακότητος shall persecute him till he has had enough, Od.:—then in attic to persecute, attack, harass, Soph., etc.
5.intr. in expressions like ἐς τοσοῦτον ἤλασαν, they drove it so far (where πρᾶγμα must be supplied), Hdt.:—hence, to push on, go on, Eur., Plat.
II.to strike, ἐλάτηισιν πόντον ἐλαύνοντες, cf. Lat. remis impellere, Il.
2.to strike with a weapon, but never with a missile, id=Il.:— c. dupl. acc., τὸν μὲν ἔλασ᾽ ὦμον him he struck on the shoulder, id=Il.; χθόνα ἤλασε μετώπωι struck earth with his forehead, Od.
III.in metaph. senses:
1.to beat with a hammer, Lat. ducere, to beat out metal, Il.; περὶ δ᾽ ἕρκος ἔλασσε κασσιτέρου around he made a fence of beaten tin, id=Il.
2.to draw a line of wall or a trench, Lat. ducere murum, Hom., etc.; τεῖχος ἐς τὸν ποταμὸν τοὺς ἀγκῶνας ἐλήλαται the wall has its angles carried down to the river, Hdt.; ὄγμον ἐλαύνειν to work one's way down a ridge or swathe in reaping or mowing, Il.; ὄρχον ἀμπελίδος ἐλ. to draw a line of vines, i. e. plant them in line, Ar.
